'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Desiree Boltos, infamously known as the "Sweetheart Swindler", was sentenced to 273 years in prison for scamming elderly people out of their money by pretending to be in love with them.
Between 2012 and 2017, Boltos, aided by her husband, Paul Hill, managed to con five men and one woman out of $1.6 million. She would first meet these unassuming old people and pretend to fall in love with them. Using their emotional vulnerability, she would then extract money from them.
Desiree's story will be explored in detail in the latest episode of ABC's The Con, set to air on August 11, 2022 at 10 pm ET. Ahead of the episode, here is some more information on the six victims who were unwittingly scammed by this "Sweetheart Swindler" and her husband.
Crucial facts you need to know about the six victims of Desiree Boltos
1) Danny Barnett
Desiree Boltos met Danny Barnett in January of 2012, when the latter was 72 years of age and the former was only 32. The duo began a romantic relationship and even got married at Boltos' request so she could secure heath insurance for her purported cancer surgery. At the time of their marriage, Boltos did not reveal that she was already married to Paul Hill and shared children with him.
Barnett even purchased a home for Desiree where she lived with Hill and their children. He also purchased a luxury vehicle for her.
Lying about needing money for surgeries, Boltos cashed Barnett's social security and worker's checks. When Barnett was hospitalized, she took over all his affairs and after his death claimed to be his widow so she could benefit from his life insurance policy. It was estimated that she appropriated $353,923 from Barnett.
2) James Olmstead
In the fall of 2012, Desiree Boltos met James Olmstead - a retired navel officer. Boltos hid her marital status, telling him that she was a widow and the two began a romantic relationship soon after.
Boltos claimed that she needed money for a variety of reasons. One of them was because she was in a probate battle in Las Vegas and needed to sustain her legal fees and living expenses. She also claimed she needed money to remove a cyst from her birth canal. Their affair ended when Olmstead’s money ran out. He had given Boltos a total of $297,905 in cash, check and wire transfer.
3) Paul Wilbur
In 2013 Desiree Boltos and Paul Wilbur met on a flight from Las Vegas to Dallas, Texas. Wilbur was 75 years old then. Boltos claimed to be an interior decorator who had one child of her own and was raising two of her sister's. Shortly after they met, the duo got involved in a romantic entanglement and Boltos started asking for money from Wilbur to support her business.
He initially sent her $70,000 for her business and later on sent additional amounts for other things she requested, like money for her purported cancer treatment. Wilbur also purchased two trucks for Boltos' non-existent business. Soon Wilbur's money started running out but Boltos had already extracted $428,503 from him by then.
4) Richard Lima
Desiree Boltos met Richard Lima in 2016 through a dating site called Plenty of Fish. Lima was 86 years old and Boltos was 36. Boltos once again posed as a widow who had an adopted daughter to take care of. Soon Boltos started requesting for money from Lima to resolve legal issues relating to her dead husband's bank account and also to support her made-up interior design business.
Like before, she also requested money for medical treatments for a broken leg, appendicitis, and other ailments, including cancer. With her fabrications, Boltos was able to secure $127,846 from Lima before leaving.
5) Douglas Wingo
Wingo was a 67 year old man living in Las Vegas when Boltos met him in 2016, via her husband Paul. He was suffering from dementia and other neurological problems at the time. Wingo's affairs were maintained by his sister Patti Hamilton because he was unable to make rational money management decisions.
According to Hamilton, Desiree befriended him and got access to his driver's license, social security number and bank account.
Hamilton later learned of numerous credit cards in her brother's name, used to fun extravagant shopping trips and other expenses. It was later revealed that in 2017 Wingo purchased three vehicles for a total price of $230,456. The purchase documents did not contain his signature, or phone number or email. One of the vehicles was located at Boltos' home in Tarrant County.
6) Lois Cardin
Lois Cardin was a 85 year old woman who too met Desiree Boltos on the online dating site called Plenty of Fish. Cardin was a widow living in Florida when the duo first exchanged letters and phone calls. Boltos even traveled to Florida to visit Cardin.
Cardin had hopes that their relationship would become romantic. But while in Florida, Boltos deceived Cardin into signing a note for a truck. Cardin later learned that Boltos had made a number of unauthorized charges on her credit cards which amounted to $15,600.67.
Due to her swindling business, Desiree Boltos was found guilty of five counts of theft and one count of exploiting an elderly person. She received a number of sentences for her crimes, which amounted to 273 years in prison. She was also liable to pay $60,000 to her victims as compensation.
Her sentence was passed by the Tarrant County court.
Catch the story of sweetheart swindler Desiree Boltos in the upcoming The Con episode which is set to drop today, August 11 at 10 pm ET.
