NEW YORK – A man who posed as a millionaire oil tycoon to scam women on internet dating sites out of thousands of dollars has been sentenced in New York to nearly four years in prison.
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John Edward Taylor was sentenced Thursday in Manhattan federal court for a fraud that cost women on the East Coast from New York to Atlanta more than $290,000.
The sentence was announced by Judge Laura Taylor Swain after she listened to six victims and an apologetic Taylor describe a fraud that lasted nearly seven years.
The fraud was exposed after a Philadelphia married couple who met Taylor reported their experience to the FBI.
A defense lawyer urged leniency, saying Taylor is mentally ill and needs therapy more than prison.
The judge noted Taylor left some victims in financial ruin.
