CAMDEN -- A man previously convicted of using dating services to scam women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for escaping a federal halfway house to swindle more woman.
Patrick Giblin, 52, formerly of Ventnor, was sentenced in Camden federal court after pleading guilty to wire fraud for stealing thousands of dollars from more than 10 women using services such as Western Union and Moneygram, acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler also sentenced Giblin to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay more than $39,000 in restitution.
From January 2013 to December 2014, Giblin posted ads on telephone dating services throughout the U.S., eventually forming relationships with several women by phone.
He told them if they gave him a loan, he would travel to where they lived to pursue a "committed, romantic relationship," the statement said.
Giblin received money from several women by interstate wire services, which he used to purchase airtime minutes for cellphones to defraud more women.
In October 2014, Giblin -- who was not allowed to leave the state because he was on federal supervised released for a previous conviction -- traveled from Atlantic County to Albany, N.Y., where he continued to scam women out of money.
In total, Giblin scammed the women out of $15,000 to $40,000, the statement said.
In April 2007, Giblin was sentenced to nearly 10 years in federal prison on wire fraud charges in connection with similar scams involving more than 50 women. He was released to a federal halfway house on work release in Decemeber 2012, but, a month later, he escaped and never returned.
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.