A Minnesota man who conned multiple women out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his crimes.
Derek Alldred, 47, posed as a US Navy pilot, professor, defense analyst, attorney, doctor and firefighter during his time scamming more than two dozen women out of their money.
‘This defendant left a trail of tears, emotional devastation, and financial ruin behind him,’ US Attorney Joseph Brown said on Wednesday, according to the Star Tribune.
Derek Alldred (pictured), 47, of Minnesota, who conned multiple women out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his crimes
According to Linda Dyas (left), she met Alldred in 2016 under the identity of ‘Richard Peterson’ dating site OurTime.com. Missi (right) said she also met ‘Peterson’ on OurTime.com
‘It is clear that he will never change, and we expect his sentence to reflect that. We are glad we were able to get some level of justice for these women.’
Nine women spoke at Alldred’s sentencing, including JoAnn Venhuizen, whom he stole nearly $18,000 from while they lived together in 2014.
Venhuizen, who met Alldred on Match.com, said that he claimed to be an international business attorney.
Dyas said Alldred (pictured, dressed as a Navy pilot) stole her credit cards and spent her retirement savings
She said the theft all started when he stole her Social Security number and opened an American Express credit card account.
‘He was taking me out to dinner, buying me flowers, and we had a trip to Hawaii that was probably close to $9,000 by itself,’ Venhuizen told the court.
Venhuizen said she grew suspicious when Alldred said he was taking her to Hawaii meet his daughter, a meeting that never occurred.
She then started searching for his daughter online, and found the troubling articles about Alldred’s scandalous past.
‘I got very, very sick to my stomach, of course,’ she told the Tribune.
According to Linda Dyas, she met Alldred in 2016 under the identity of ‘Richard Peterson’. He claimed to be a Navy officer.
Dyas had just divorced her husband in February 2016 when she met Alldred on the dating site OurTime.com.
‘Everybody wants to believe that they’re going to meet their ‘Prince Charming’ – that they’re going to meet a good Christian boy who’s a lot like their dad,’ Dyas told KARE 11.
But instead, Dyas said he stole her credit cards, opened new accounts in her name and spent her retirement savings.
Dyas wasn’t the only woman to meet Alldred as ‘Peterson’, the Navy officer.
Missi said she also met ‘Peterson’ on OurTime.com. She told KARE 11 that she started questioning some of Alldred’s stories after she noticed his suspicious behavior.
Dyas said Alldred would dress in what she believed to be a naval uniform and showed her certificates and honors (pictured)
Alldred (pictured during two separate arrests) was given the maximum sentence allowed on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity fraud. He was also ordered to pay nearly $255,000 in restitution
One day she decided to look through his wallet while he was in the shower and found two credit cards belonging to Dyas.
‘I opened up his wallet and the first thing I see is a social security card that said Derek Mylan Alldred and I was like, “oh my gosh,”‘ she said.
That’s when she alerted Dyas that she had found her cards on Facebook.
‘I just needed her to understand that he was being a fraud,’ Missi said.
Cindi Pardini of San Francisco rallied the victims up to bring Alldred to justice, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Texas.
She told the Tribune that she connected with Alldred in 2012 on Facebook.
At the time he was posing as a financier of hotels in Lake Tahoe and Maui, Pardini said.
‘He asked, “You mind if I stay at your house? I want to move back to San Francisco,”‘ she told the newspaper. ‘I said, “Sure, no problem.”‘
In the month he lived there, Pardini lost $250,000.
Alldred was given the maximum sentence allowed on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity fraud.
He was also ordered to pay nearly $255,000 in restitution.