The saga of Laura Michelle Owens, the Scottsdale, Ariz., woman who tried to pin a fake pregnancy on former Bachelor star Clayton Echard, just took a jaw-dropping turn. On May 1, 2025, a Maricopa County grand jury indicted Owens on seven felony counts, accusing her of orchestrating a paternity fraud scheme that’s as audacious as it is despicable. This isn’t just another chapter in a reality TV drama — it’s a legal smackdown that proves the truth can overcome years of lies.
Late last week, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell issued a cryptic message to those watching the Owens v. Echard drama when she said, “stay tuned” after being asked how the investigation was going. Those following the story had begun to wonder if justice was ever going to be served. But just days later, the shocking indictment against Owens was released.
CLAYTON ECHARD CASE UPDATE: I meant to share this earlier but I asked Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell for an update on her office’s investigation into Laura Owens following the Clayton Echard paternity case.
Here is her response.@12News pic.twitter.com/OzAHY69JH1
— Bianca Buono (@BiancaBuono) May 1, 2025
Owens faces seven felonies, one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of forgery, four counts of perjury, and one count of tampering with physical evidence. The indictment alleges that from May 17, 2023, to June 10, 2024, Owens spun a web of deceit to defraud Echard by claiming he fathered her nonexistent twins. She’s accused of forging a sonogram, lying under oath about her intimate history, and tampering with court exhibits to prop up her crumbling story. If convicted, Owens could be looking at serious prison time.
As PJ Media reported last June, Judge Julie Mata saw through Owens’ charade, ruling her paternity suit was filed in “bad faith” and her testimony “uncredible.” Mata’s 19-page ruling laid bare Owens’ doctored medical records — ultrasounds, hCG tests — and her fabricated claims about visiting OBGYNs who never treated her. The court hit Owens with a $149,219.76 bill for Echard’s attorney fees, and when she tried to appeal, the Arizona Court of Appeals shut her down in March 2025 and added over $30,000 to the total she owes Echard for attorney’s fees.
This indictment is the cherry on top of her legal nightmare that she created with photoshopped arts and crafts and abuse of several men and the legal system. The charges are as specific as they are damning.
Count 1 says Owens knowingly tried to scam Echard with “fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises, or material omissions.” Count 2 targets a forged sonogram she allegedly cooked up between June 27 and July 11, 2023. Counts 3 through 6 are perjury charges for her brazen lies under oath: claiming in October 2023 she hadn’t been intimate with anyone since March 2022, swearing in March 2024 that a sonogram and a video of a “pregnant belly” were hers, and insisting in June 2024, “That’s me showing my pregnant stomach.” Count 7 accuses her of tampering with exhibits during a June 10, 2024, hearing to hide the truth. This isn’t a misstep — it’s a masterclass in fraud falling apart.
Clayton Echard, who’s endured a living nightmare, is finally seeing justice. He posted his live reaction on Instagram. “Justice is finally served!” he exclaimed. “Rachel Mitchell has announced the indictment of Laura Michelle Owens on felony charges related to the paternity scheme.” Echard couldn’t stop smiling as he continued, “This nightmare is over. I’m so ready to not have to think about this anymore.”
His ordeal began when Owens filed the paternity suit in August 2023, claiming that a May 20, 2023, encounter made him the father. Echard insisted they only had oral sex, a claim backed by paternity tests showing “little to no fetal DNA.” Owens’ house of cards collapsed when all the facts were finally brought forward by Echard’s attorneys, Gregg Woodnick, Deandra Arena, and Isabel Ranney, in front of Judge Julie Mata last June.
Echard isn’t alone in this mess. As reported in a PJ Media exclusive on June 28, 2024, Michael Marraccini, who dated Owens in 2015, suffered through fake pregnancy claims, false rape accusations, and a restraining order that derailed his career. There is still a TEDx Talk online featuring Owens describing wild tales of abuse she claimed she suffered at Marraccini’s hands and features doctored evidence. Messages and requests to TEDx to remove the fraudulent talk have been ignored.
Greg Gillespie, another victim, was accused of “abortion coercion” after refusing to date Owens. These men’s stories expose a chilling pattern of harassment, abuse, and fraud, all beginning when they attempted to end a dating relationship with Owens. This indictment suggests Owens’ days of dodging accountability are over.
This case is a glaring warning about the damage false accusers can inflict. As I’ve written before, the judicial system’s willingness to grant restraining orders without evidence is a travesty that ruins lives. Owens recently renewed the restraining order on Gillespie without any problem even after her name should have been well-known to the Maricopa judges after Judge Mata referred her to the county attorney for perjury. But not even that fact mattered, and Owens was granted a new restraining order against a man who was the victim of Owens’ schemes.
Owens’ antics should push courts to demand better proof before letting someone weaponize the law. The fallout from her lies — legal battles, trashed reputations, and emotional tolls — shows why we need reform.
This indictment is a victory for Echard, Marraccini, and Gillespie, who’ve fought to clear their names. It is also a victory for the independent press and YouTubers like Dave Neal, Reality Steve, PJ Media, and many others who pushed this story into the news with constant, dedicated investigation and coverage when no major press would cover Echard’s story, choosing instead to only cover Owens’ tall tales. The biggest loser here is The Sun, whose editorial staff ran with Owens’ false accusations and smeared Echard without doing any investigative work.
Thanks to you, loyal PJ Media subscribers, we can continue to do the work the mainstream press refuses to do. Sometimes that work leads to justice, and today is that day.
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