Lovefraud has just posted a new case study about Patrick M. Giblin of New Jersey. This guy swindled 132 women, whom he met through telephone dating services, out of $320,241—and those are just the crimes that the authorities know about. Giblin blew the money on casino gambling.

Giblin’s sentencing took place in the federal courthouse in Camden, New Jersey, on April 17, 2006. Giblin told the court his version of “the devil made me do it” story—that he took all that money from all those women because he was addicted to gambling.

Giblin’s apology

Oh, he put on quite a show, reading a letter of apology to his victims. Here it is:

I am a greedy idiot who was concerned about one thing only, HIMSELF. I took advantage of each and every one of you when I found out that you had money. I was not concerned about your well being or any possible financial harm that I may have been causing you. For some of you, there were genuine feelings for me because I made it out to seem that I was interested in starting relationships with all of you. I was pretending. It was all a lie. I do not expect any one of you who are VICTIMS to ever accept an apology from me. I am though going to say right now that I am so sorry. My actions were unexcusable. I regret everything that I did to all of you. The financial hardships I have caused, the lack of trust that you all probably will not have again, is my fault. I am truly sorry. The burning question that all of you are probably saying to yourself is why did I do this? The answer is my 20 year gambling addiction which is a sickness. Any time a crime is committed against someone, it is an illegal act with which there should be no excuse for doing it. I am certainly not trying to make an excuse. I committed fraud against all of you. I just wanted all of you to understand that I have been a compulsive gambler for 20 years. Each time money was sent to me by the victims, none of it went to the lies that I told the money was for. As soon as I received the money, I was in the casino. I would gamble the money away and call back making an excuse for needing more money. This particular pattern went on for 4 years or so. I am a complete loser. When I get released all I’m going to do is work, work, work. It is going to take me a long time, but I’m going to pay back the restitution I owe to the victims of my scam. I am going to turn my life around, get help for my addiction, and once and for all lead a normal law abiding life while I still have a chance to be a productive member of society. All of you have struggled because of my actions. I want to accomplish paying everyone back. When I get released, it is not going to be about me, it going to be about all of you and doing what is necessary to pay everyone back. I don’t expect forgiveness but I will once again say that I am truly sorry for the harm that I caused everyone. Thank you.

Why did Giblin make this apology? He wanted the judge to give him the lightest possible sentence. Was he sincere? I don’t think so, and neither did the New Jersey judge.

Giblin had already told another judge in Colorado—where he had conned a widow—that he was going to get help for his addiction. That judge believed him and let Giblin go back to New Jersey. Giblin went directly to the casino. He quickly got on the phone personals again and methodically swindled another 28 women.

For more about the brazenness of this con artist, be sure to read all three pages of the case study on Lovefraud.com.

Classic sociopath

I attended Giblin’s sentencing, spoke with two victims and an investigator, and reviewed the court’s case file. In my opinion, Patrick Giblin is a classic sociopath.

Giblin was charming as he seduced his victims—one called him a “fast-talking Northerner.” To make himself seem trustworthy, he lied about his credentials, claiming he worked in law enforcement, his father was a judge and his brother was a prosecutor. When the victims started resisting his charm, he turned to threats. Giblin threatened to kill one victim’s father and another victim’s children.

Once he was arrested, Giblin milked the legal system, which stalled his sentencing for almost two years. Then, as the sentencing approached, he started apologizing—to the court for wasting its time, and to the victims for taking their money.

And of course, nothing was Giblin’s fault. He blamed all his problems on his sickness—his gambling addiction. But that’s not the way it works. Gambling is a symptom of his sociopathic personality, not the cause of it. Sociopaths are always looking for the next thrill. In Giblin’s case, the thrills were gambling, and conning women into giving him the money to do it.

Fortunately, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler saw through Giblin’s lies. The judge knew that Giblin wouldn’t change, and the best he could do was protect the rest of society from this scam artist. Giblin received the maximum sentence possible under federal guidelines. The predator will be behind bars for nine and a half years.