America’s most prolific romance scammer sentenced to 5 years in prison

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A New Jersey-based romance scammer who has allegedly conned at least 155 women out of more than $500,000 was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars, authorities said Friday.

Patrick Giblin, 58, of Atlantic City — who has been busted repeatedly for swindling widows, disabled women and single moms — had faced 25 years in prison for his most recent fraud arrest, according to the United States Attorney District of New Jersey.

But the faux Romeo was sentenced to just 66 months by US District Judge Robert Kugler Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and escaping federal custody.

Giblin was also ordered to pay $23,428 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release.

The deceptive Don Juan has been to jail at least four times for scamming women has escaped federal custody twice — and continued to pull the con while on the lam, according to local police and federal authorities.

Though Giblin is thought to be America’s most prolific romance scammer — conning women beginning as far back as the mid-1990s — he has avoided ever serving more than 9 years behind bars, according to The Daily Beast.

For decades, Giblin wooed women he met through dating services with conversation designed to sniff out their emotional weak spots — then used charm and pressure to convince them to wire him money, ranging from $250 to $50,000 per victim, according to prosecutors from past and current cases.

In his most recent bust, Giblin escaped from federal authorities while being transferred from federal prison in Pennsylvania, where he was doing time for ripping off romantic interests, to a halfway house in Newark, New Jersey in July 2020.

But he never showed up and was later arrested in Atlantic City in March 2021. He was charged with pulling the con on 12 more women he met on telephone dating sites while on the lam.

Giblin previously kept meticulous logs with notes on dozens of his female victims, including when they were ready to be scammed, according to the prosecutors.

In other cases, he told victims lies including that he’s the son of a prominent judge, a big winner at a casino and a rich Jersey Shore resident who’s down on his luck, according to the Daily Beast — which tallied at least 155 victims from court documents, press releases and newspaper clippings.

In September, Giblin told the outlet he had compulsively conned women to support his “degenerate” gambling habit and that he didn’t expect a stiff sentence.

Giblin, who has access to a text messaging service in federal prison, told The Post he’s happy with the sentence.

What do you think? Post a comment.
“Do I think it’s fair? Heck yeah,” he wrote. “I am a-okay with it and I am going to be able to do some gambling-related programs upon my release. So I am in a good spot.”

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