Clayton Echard and Greg Gillespie’s long nightmare with serial pregnancy faker and fraudster Laura Owens seems finally to be at an end. On Friday, Owens pleaded guilty to four felonies related to the scheme to defraud Echard and Gillespie by pretending to be pregnant with twins while using the court system as a weapon to harm them over many years.
Owens came on my radar in 2024 when she filed a harassment order against YouTuber and journalist Dave Neal in an attempt to silence his reporting on her schemes to accuse former ABC Bachelor Echard of being a deadbeat dad who refused to acknowledge her twin pregnancy. The entire story was a lie, and Owens has finally admitted it in court. Neal told PJ Media, “I’m glad Laura finally admitted fault and I hope it’s the first step of many that helps restore the lives of all of the people harmed.” Without Neal’s dogged reporting on this case, the truth may never have been revealed. “I’m forever grateful for the community that gave us their attention and support to help shine light on this case,” said Neal.
The battle for the truth was a long one, and the mainstream media did nothing to help. While they’re all on the bandwagon now, reporting the guilty plea, they were nowhere to be found when Owens was harassing victims and independent journalists. In fact, The Sun helped her do it. To this day, The Sun has not printed a retraction of the article it wrote from her perspective, using only Owens’ curated versions of text messages and emails from Echard, painting him as an abuser while conveniently leaving out her insane demands on Echard — like trying to force him to sign a contract agreeing to date her in exchange for an abortion.
On Friday, Owens pleaded guilty to two Class 2 felonies of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of Class 4 felony perjury, and one Class 4 felony of taking the identity of another.
The plea is an interesting one because the terms of jail time or probation are solely up to the sentencing judge. Owens could face up to 12 years in prison on the Class 2 felony and up to 7 years of probation. The other charges can carry up to one year in jail as well if the judge decides to drop the hammer. It’s more likely she will get a long term of supervised probation and a short stint in the county jail. However, this case has been full of surprises, and no one knows what might happen.
Echard posted his reaction on Instagram, surprisingly offering his support for Owens and “rooting for her” to recover from whatever malady makes one fabricate pregnancy claims and commit life-ruining accusations.
PJ Media reached out to Echard’s attorney Gregg Woodnick, who fought Owens on Echard’s behalf for years and who also represented Gillespie for part of his court battle with Owens. Woodnick seemed relieved. “Sitting in that courtroom, I was flooded with relief that Laura was finally pleading guilty and that this saga was coming to an end,” he said. “That said, this has been a long road, and the volume of people impacted by her malignancy is significant.” Woodnick is also a victim of Owens, having weathered a fabricated rape allegation against him and his client Gillespie years before. He said:
As a lawyer and parent, I worry that Laura’s behavior will cause people to disregard real victims. Her misuse of the court process significantly deprived real people with real (not arts and crafts) evidence of access to justice. Her antics of lashing out at anyone (including a judge) who disagreed with her were mollified when she said – four times – the word "guilty."
Woodnick is in the unique position of having guided two of the victims through Owens’ scheming and having lived this case for years. He has been reluctant to share his thoughts until now:
Prior to her guilty plea, we were told Laura was struggling to come into the courtroom. Sitting there next to Clayton and Greg, I thought of all of the opportunities Laura had to avoid this fate. It is confounding to think she has been doing this for years, was previously caught in those efforts, and yet still had the chutzpah to do it again.
During Woodnick’s time investigating Owens and her schemes, he became acquainted with her California victim, Mike Marraccini, whose story can be seen here. “After the hearing, I called Mike and Danielle, because this was redemption for them, too. It was humbling,” he said. “I worry Laura will never realize the depth of the harm she caused her victims.”
Woodnick spoke about the disappointment felt in the online community that there would be no trial:
While those following her crimes may be disappointed to not hear the details that would have come out at trial, that is because the lawyering in this criminal process has been excellent. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office demonstrated their commitment to justice. Nobody will ever know what conversations led to Laura changing her tune after committing (and recommitting…and recommitting) to her malignant fiction. But I contend that Mr. Lueders may have saved Laura from herself, and that is the best of lawyering.
Christian Lueders is Owens’ third criminal attorney, who finally saw the plea deal through to completion.
I asked Woodnick if he thinks Owens will face jail time. He answered:
People are asking me how Laura can avoid lengthy incarceration. The consequences are up to the court, but I am hopeful Laura will think twice before she starts blaming her victims, claiming she is the victim (despite now being a felon) or claiming some diagnosis caused this behavior. No one caused her to fake evidence and fabricate rape allegations. I hope she finally takes full accountability.
PJ Media also reached out to Greg Gillespie for his thoughts on Owens' fate. “I wanted this to go to trial,” he said. “The evidence was undeniable — Laura would have been found guilty on all 14 felony charges rather than pleading to only four.” Gillespie feels strongly that Owens feels no remorse and only took the deal to avoid a harsh sentence. “Accountability was inevitable. Her only options were to accept the plea and pray for probation, or go to trial where she certainly faced convictions on all 14 counts.” Had that been the case, Owens would have faced decades in prison. “She is neither sorry nor remorseful for any of her actions,” continued Gillespie. “She simply weighed her options and chose the path most favorable to her future.”
Hearing Owens admit from her own mouth that she is, in fact, guilty felt like a big win. Not only did she admit it publicly, but TEDx finally took down her defamatory talk that was a black cloud hanging over her California victim, Mike Marraccini’s, head. After years of asking TEDx to remove Owens’s fraudulent TEDx talk full of heinous false allegations against Marraccini that she relied on for credibility, it was finally removed the day after she pleaded guilty.
@ClaytonsJustice @volojfc @LethalLauren904 @MeganFoxWriter pic.twitter.com/b9KWB6Da45
— Coco (@fancypantsck) August 29, 2026
PJ Media reached out for Marraccini’s reaction to the long-awaited removal of the defamatory TEDx talk. “This was one of the biggest wins to date,” he said. “I felt immense relief when that heinous video about me was taken down. I am still shocked at how long TEDx platformed Laura’s video, even with the criminal case ongoing. It feels good to finally have that false narrative removed from a public platform with such a wide reach.” Even after iHeart Radio's hit podcast Love Trapped covered the Owens case and local Arizona media reached out to TEDx about its refusal to take it down, they got no response, and TEDx refused to remove it until Friday.
Marraccini has unfortunately not had the kind of justice the Arizona victims have received. Owens, after taking out a fraudulent domestic violence order of protection against him that lasted 10 years based on false allegations of abuse, is threatening to appeal the recent dismissal that happened last November. After Owens failed to appear at the hearing to decide if the protective order should be extended against Marraccini, a San Francisco judge threw it out. Owens filed her notice of appeal and continues to drag Marraccini through a needless legal battle out of spite. So far, no California prosecutors have acted on the perjury in the Marraccini case. However, there’s plenty of evidence showing she lied under oath and fabricated medical records in that case in an almost identical pattern to that in the Echard and Gillespie cases.
“I was not shocked when I heard she took the plea,” said Marraccini. “The evidence against her was overwhelming, so it was in her best interest to do so. I am glad she took some accountability, but ultimately I believe she needs to serve time to fully grasp the severity of her actions.”
The sentencing will take place in Judge Reuter’s courtroom in Maricopa County on October 23, 2026. You can watch Owens plead guilty below.
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