"I cannot survive in prison": Israeli OnlyFans model bursts into tears in court
Adva Lavi, known as Maya Ventura, cried and shouted in a Los Angeles court, claiming she is being beaten in prison. After her defense attorney raised doubts about her competency to stand trial, the proceedings were frozen, and she will be brought to a mental health court. Lavi is accused of a series of thefts from wealthy men and women she met online.
The criminal proceedings against Israeli OnlyFans model Adva Lavi, known as Maya Ventura, were frozen on Wednesday after her defense attorney informed the Los Angeles court that he was raising doubts about her mental competency to stand trial.
According to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, 29-year-old Lavi will be brought on September 9 to the mental health court in Hollywood, and the proceedings against her will not advance until a decision is made on whether she is capable of understanding the process and assisting her lawyers in managing her defense.
Lavi was brought to the hearing in blue prison garb, crying, shouting, and appearing to limp. She left the courtroom and returned several times, and at one point was brought inside by a security officer while sitting in a wheelchair. Cameras were not allowed to enter, but her words were heard from the hall.
"Just deport me back to Israel," Lavi shouted. Later she claimed: "They broke my rib, just send me home"; "They are beating me"; and "I cannot survive in prison. I cannot even stand." Prison authorities have yet to respond to these claims.
Sexual abuse and PTSD
Freezing the proceedings does not cancel the charges and is not a determination that Lavi is incompetent to stand trial. Now, a professional evaluation is expected to be conducted for her. If she is determined to be competent, the trial will resume; if it is determined that she is unable to stand trial, the court may first order treatment aimed at restoring her competency.
This development comes about two weeks after a judge rejected the defense's request to transfer Lavi to a mental health treatment program instead of continuing the criminal proceedings. Her lawyers argued that she suffers from PTSD and other disorders following sexual and physical abuse she experienced. The judge cast doubt on some of the things she told the defense experts and determined that it was not proven that her mental state played a role in the offenses attributed to her.
Lavi denies the charges against her. In the case pending in Los Angeles, she is accused of six felony offenses: two counts of grand theft, two counts of unauthorized use of identifying information, first-degree residential burglary, and first-degree burglary of a residence while a person was present.
Claim that her mother died despite being alive
The prosecution claims that in 2023-2025, Lavi met older and wealthy men, as well as several young women, through dating apps, social networks, and "sugar daddy" websites. According to the charges, she presented herself as a partner or travel companion, gained their trust, and gained access to their homes - and then stole cash, gold, credit cards, and designer items. The events occurred, according to the prosecution, in Westlake Village, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles.
In one case, Lavi is accused of stealing $17,500 in cash, designer clothes worth about $100,000, and gold coins worth $4,000 from the home of a 78-year-old man with whom she had a relationship. Investigators claim that she later posted a "tour of the apartment" video on TikTok, in which some of the stolen clothes were seen in her closet.
According to the prosecution, Lavi also told the same man that her mother had died and asked him for $25,000 to pay for her expenses. However, during the investigation, she traveled to Israel and was seen with her mother, who was alive. In another case, it is alleged that during the recording of the "Access Vegas" podcast, she took a credit card belonging to another participant from the guest room, and it was subsequently used at a luxury hair salon in Beverly Hills.
Simultaneously, another case is pending against Lavi in Riverside County. There, she is suspected of stealing an $8,600 Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton sunglasses worth about $700, and a cardholder of the same brand worth almost $2,000 from a Tesla car during her stay in a house rented via Airbnb in Indio, during the music festival season last year. Part of the act was documented, according to the police, on the house's security cameras.
Lavi is being held without bail after the court defined her as a flight risk. She was re-arrested at the end of July after, according to authorities, she removed the electronic ankle monitor attached to her and submitted a request to receive an additional Israeli passport, even though her original passport was deposited with the authorities. The prosecution also presented a phone call from prison in which, according to them, she discussed the possibility of fleeing to Israel.
