<P> The character of Alex Vause is loosely based on Catherine Cleary Wolters, ex-girlfriend of Piper Kerman, the author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison and an executive consultant on the series . In Kerman's memoir, Wolters is given the pseudonym Nora Jansen, who is a marginal character in the book . In actuality, Kerman and Wolters did not serve their prison sentences together as depicted in the series, however they were reunited in a flight to Chicago, where they were detained for several weeks in a detention facility to testify in the drug trafficking case . Their stint in Chicago is portrayed in the series' second season, however, the defendant they were to testify against was changed to the cartel's kingpin, as was the fact that Wolters and Kerman were cell - mates in the prison . </P> <P> Wolters met Kerman in 1991 in Northampton, Massachusetts, becoming friends around the time Kerman graduated from Smith College . Kerman wrote in her memoir that Wolters was part of a "clique of impossibly stylish and cool lesbians in their mid-30s". Wolters said both of them ran in "the same little Noho lesbian social circle", and spent time together when she returned from her travels . Wolters had told Kerman she worked for an African drug lord, moving heroin around internationally, while Kerman was fascinated by her globe - trotting, adventurous lifestyle . Wolters asked Kerman if she wanted to take part in the operation . According to Wolters, she and Kerman became romantically involved after Kerman had gotten involved in the drug ring . In her interview with Vanity Fair, Wolters said that they were not girlfriends but friends with benefits, a notion with which Kerman disagreed, stating that they may have different perspectives about their time together and their relationship was complicated . </P> <P> Kerman traveled with Wolters to exotic places, and made several trips carrying drug - funds for the cartel . Kerman realized she needed to walk away when Wolters asked her to transport heroin instead of money, after which she flew home and started a new life . Years later, Kerman was indicted and plead guilty to a money laundering charge, serving 13 months in a minimum - security prison in Danbury, Connecticut . Wolters was charged with conspiracy to import heroin, serving nearly six years in a Dublin, California prison, and nearly 14 years on parole . In the series, the issue of whether Vause implicated Chapman and the effect on their personal relationship is a major plot line of the first season . When Wolters and others involved in the drug ring were arrested by federal law enforcement, Wolters said that she, like the others, named everyone involved, including Kerman . Wolters also stated that, contrary to Kerman's implication in her memoir, she was not "singularly responsible for (her) downfall", as she was honest about what she did and getting involved was Kerman's decision . Although Kerman aimed to take responsibility for her actions, she said she still carried some resentment toward Wolters (for naming her), later making peace with her when they were held together in a Chicago facility . Unlike in the series, Wolters and Kerman did not get back together when they were reunited in prison . </P> <P> According to Wolters, "the only (physical) similarity between myself and (Vause) is my black glasses ." In her memoir, Kerman described Wolters as a "droll" woman, with a "drawling, wisecracking husky voice" and a "playful, watchful way of drawing a person out"; "when she paid you attention, it felt as if she were about to let you in on a private joke ." Wolters' interview to Vanity Fair in April 2014 led to a book deal for her memoir . In 2015, HarperOne released Out of Orange, Wolters' memoir covering from the circumstances of her involvement in the drug trafficking ring and her relationship with Kerman, to her arrest, prison experience, and the present . </P>

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