A New Jersey man who defrauded several women by making false romantic promises through telephone dating services, and escaped federal custody in July 2020, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison Wednesday.

Patrick Giblin, 58, of Atlantic City, had previously pled guilty to one count of escape from custody and one count of wire fraud., according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney for New Jersey’s office. Federal prosecutors noted that Giblin had already been convicted twice on similar charges and had also escaped custody before.

Prosecutors say that on July 23, 2020, Giblin escaped from the custody of the Attorney General while being transported from a federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to a resident living facility in Newark. He had a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, but never appeared in New Jersey.

Giblin was supposed to serve the remainder of a sentence imposed in 2017 after being convicted of defrauding multiple women through online dating services across several states. Before his sentencing in 2017, Giblin had previously served a nine and half year sentence for a 2007 wire fraud conviction that also involved him defrauding women.

The convict had escaped federal custody before in 2012 while he was in a residential re-entry program in Philadelphia. According to court documents via CNN, Giblin was given a day pass to find employment in Atlantic City, but federal authorities caught him a week later gambling the money from women he defrauded in a hotel.

From April 2019 to March 2021 federal prosecutors say that he continued his old habits of defrauding women by posting advertisements and messages on telephone dating services, even while he was in custody and a fugitive.

Prosecutors stated:

Giblin cultivated a rapport with the women he spoke to on these services, falsely claimed that he would be relocating to the woman’s geographic area, and falsely represented that he wished to pursue a committed, romantic relationship with each woman. Giblin received money from the women he spoke to on the dating services via interstate wire services such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

Over the past two decades, Giblin has defrauded at least 100 women of over $250,00 through making false romantic promises with requests for short-term loans that he never repaid, according to a review of plea agreements and federal complaints via CNN.

“He preyed on vulnerabilities, promising to end the loneliness of a woman who had recently ended a long-term relationship or soothing someone who recently suffered the death of a loved one,” according to a report from federal prosecutors in New Jersey, per CNN. “Giblin would convince these women that he was willing to relocate to their locales but needed money wired to do so.”

The serial swindler would target widows, single moms, women with disabilities, those who had been laid off, and those grieving the death of their children, according to federal prosecutors via the Daily Beast. He would then use the money he coaxed out of women to support his gambling addiction.

Giblin was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlantic City on March 10, 2021.

The 58-year-old was facing a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000 for the wire fraud charge, and a maximum five-year sentence and a  maximum $250,000 fine for the escape charge.

However, Giblin was only sentenced to five and a half months in prison and was ordered by a judge to pay $23,428 in restitution. He was also ordered to serve an additional three years of supervised release.

Giblin told the New York Post, through a text messaging service he has access to in prison, of his thoughts on his most recent sentence.

“Do I think it’s fair? Heck yeah. 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,” the convict wrote.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.