The daughter of a San Francisco radio legend admitted in a Maricopa County courtroom to four felony counts tied to a fabricated pregnancy scheme targeting The Bachelor star Clayton Echard, and she could face more than a decade behind bars.
Laura Owens entered her guilty plea Friday at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, accepting responsibility for two counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of perjury, and one count of taking the identity of another person. Ten of the original 14 felony charges filed against her were dropped as part of a plea deal with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, the Daily Mail reported.
Owens, the daughter of longtime San Francisco radio host Ronn Owens, now faces sentencing on October 23. On the first fraud count alone, she could receive probation or up to 12.5 years in prison. The remaining three counts carry probation only.
The case began in May 2023, when Owens contacted Echard through LinkedIn. Echard, 33, a Season 26 star of ABC's The Bachelor who works as a realtor in Scottsdale, Arizona, told the Daily Mail that the initial exchange was unremarkable. She asked about a brokerage he was part of. Then the tone changed.
Echard described what happened next in his own words:
"I basically said sure and we exchanged cell phone numbers. She started to text me saying she wanted to see homes, then she started to be flirtatious. She sent me a provocative photo and the mood shifted. I said you should come over."
Echard said he was under the influence of marijuana that night and regretted the encounter the next morning. He told the Daily Mail he wanted to be direct and not lead Owens on. But Owens, he said, began talking as if they were heading toward a serious relationship. When he pulled back, her behavior shifted in a way he described as "very eerie."
Echard has maintained the two did not have intercourse, though they did have romantic contact. Owens told a different story. In August 2023, she filed a paternity petition in a Phoenix court accusing Echard of fathering her twins.
That November, Owens testified in court that she was 24 weeks pregnant with twins. Prosecutors later alleged she backed up that testimony with a doctored sonogram and a fake pregnancy video. Echard said at the time that he believed she had trapped him.
Shortly after her court appearance, Owens dropped the lawsuit and claimed she had miscarried.
The fraud did not end with the dropped paternity suit. Echard told the Daily Mail that Owens sent him five or six angry emails a day. She also allegedly filed a complaint with the Arizona Department of Real Estate seeking to have his license revoked, a move that threatened his livelihood on top of everything else.
Echard said Owens became "obsessed" after he ended the relationship. But he also directed some of his frustration at Owens's mother, Jan Black, a former radio reporter. In October, he told the Daily Mail he believed Black was "the driving force" behind her daughter's legal problems.
"I don't even really blame Laura. I think her mom has enabled and encouraged her daughter and Laura doesn't even realize it."
Black denied that accusation. She insisted her daughter's pregnancy was real, said Laura had been "tormented" online and hounded by "men's rights podcasters," and accused the state of Arizona of prosecuting her selectively.
Owens herself offered little public defense. In a phone call with the Daily Mail, she said she wished she could make a statement but could not while the criminal case was active.
"I have lots to say, but I would get in trouble. I can say I am innocent but nothing more for now. It's best if you go through my mother."
That claim of innocence now sits uneasily beside a guilty plea to four felonies.
The criminal case extends beyond Echard. Gregory Gillespie, an ex-boyfriend who briefly dated Owens in 2021, is named as the victim in the remaining charges. The connection between the two men's cases surfaced through a shared family law attorney, KTAR News reported. The specific conduct Owens allegedly committed against Gillespie is not detailed in available court reporting, but the fraud and identity-theft counts to which she pleaded guilty cover both victims.
And there are earlier allegations. A 2016 incident involving a man named Michael Marraccini suggests a pattern: after that relationship ended, Owens allegedly faked a twin pregnancy and a separate singular pregnancy. Marraccini's role in the current criminal case, whether as a witness, a complainant, or simply historical context, is not clear from court records made public so far.
Gregg Woodnick, the attorney representing both Echard and Gillespie, issued a statement after the plea:
"Ms Owens's admission of guilt today is a step in the right direction towards acknowledging the significant harm that her crimes caused her victims and the community."
Woodnick also thanked the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and its investigators, saying they had "worked tirelessly to pursue justice."
The fraud scheme prosecutors outlined ran from May 2023 through June 2024 for the Echard-related counts. The indictment did not come until May 2025, a full year after the scheme's end date. The guilty plea landed Friday, more than three years after Owens first contacted Echard on LinkedIn.
Echard, for his part, told the Daily Mail he felt "vindicated" when prosecutors finally brought charges. He said he has compartmentalized the experience and does not intend to carry it forward.
"I feel I happened to stumble across one of the most crazy individuals I've ever met. The chances of me stumbling across another one? I'm not going to carry baggage from something previous."
He also reflected on the woman he first met through a professional networking site.
"She was completely normal, which is sad, because she could have had a totally normal life."
Normal is one thing Laura Owens's life is unlikely to be for some time. Sentencing is set for October 23, and a judge will decide whether probation or prison is the appropriate consequence for a year-long campaign built on fabricated pregnancies, forged medical records, and perjured testimony.
Courts exist to sort truth from fraud. It should not take three years and 14 felony counts to get there.
