The ultimate con artist

Josh Mankiewicz Correspondent • Profile

Say hello to Fred Brito, a smiling cherubic liar.

One day he was known as Father Fred, while on another, he was a high-profile fundraiser, getting chummy with Hollywood stars. And there’s another legal document saying that on the same day,  he was really a court-appointed psychiatrist.

They’re all Fred Brito. And they’re all assumed identities, products of the fertile imagination of a confidence man.

Fred Brito: A good con will go for the highest profile job he can possibly get.

And that’s exactly what Fred did or still does; no one’s quite sure.  What is certain is that along the way, Fred has made his share of friends—and more than a few enemies.

Tonight, we’ll take you on the hunt for the real Fred Brito—inside the mind and the world of someone who’s not just a con man but a world-class imposter. He tricked state senators, the Red Cross, the courts, celebrities, a prestigious medical school, and the Catholic Church. Tonight, he’ll even try to trick you. And you’ll meet some of his victims, who only learned they’d been conned... when WE told them.

If you’re watching and you recognize Fred Brito, you might be in for a surprise. If that happens, give us a call.

In fact, we were in for a surprise, as we did our best to untangle a huge web of lies.

The beginning
Born Frederick Brito, Fred grew up with five brothers and a sister in a small house in Los Angeles.  It turned out that Fred as a child was a lot like Fred the adult. His brother and stepfather:

Stepfather: He was kinda...”

Brother: “Mischievous.”

Stepfather: “...mischievous boy.”

Brother: “Life didn’t move fast enough for him.”

That longing for the fast life drew a 20-year-old Fred to the Hollywood night club scene in the mid 70’s.  That’s where Fred says he met and began a close friendship with Paul Lynde, best known for his TV roles on “Bewitched” and “The Hollywood Squares.”

Brito: I learned a lifestyle that I’d never participated in before. The lifestyle of Mercedes Benzes, living in the Hollywood hills, going to Beverly Hills restaurants, doing all the things movie stars would do. And I got to meet a lot of movie stars.

But the fast life ended as suddenly as it began.

Brito: Paul Lynde, you know, he had an entourage of people. He had usually five or six people that were friends of his and I at one time was lucky enough to be the the favorite chosen one, until I got older ...and I was cast off.

With no money, no fast cars, and no place to live, Fred moved back home with his parents.

Brito: It was a major major culture shock. And I had to get a job and the first job I got was at a bank. And I had this lifestyle that I had to play and I had no money to do it. And I winded up borrowing, at that point the word was borrowing, I took $1000 of Traveler’s Checks. And that was my first crime.

That’s only partially true: that was his first federal crime.  Fred had already been convicted of forgery and arrested and charged with theft—that charge was later dismissed.  After he took the thousand dollars, the FBI arrested him for embezzlement of bank funds and Fred spent time behind bars.  He was later ordered to stay in a half-way house. But before completing the program, Fred decided to skip town, violating his parole.

Brito: I started a whole new life in Vancouver, a wonderful city. I met lots of people and did some things I probably shouldn’t have done and ended up in jail in Bernaby, British Columbia.

Josh Mankiewicz, Dateline correspondent: Are you thinking to yourself somewhere along the way here, ‘I’m a smart guy but I’m not a very good criminal, maybe I should stop doing this?’

Brito: Once you’ve had the lifestyle that I led, it’s hard to come back. The Hollywood lifestyle was the drug that I became addicted to. I was in the fast lane and all of a sudden I’m now in the slow lane, on the soft shoulder in a sense, and I wanted to be in the fast lane. And I would have done anything to get back in the fast lane.

And when Fred says anything, he means just that. Over the next few years, Fred found himself in and out of prison for renting luxury cars, driving them around town as if they were his own and never returning them back to the place where he rented them.

Still in his 20s, Fred was already a five-time convicted felon.

Mankiewicz: It doesn’t seem like the criminal justice system was really teaching you a lesson.

Brito: They were trying to teach me a lesson, but I wasn’t willing to listen, that was the problem.

In fact, Fred spent so much time in the hands of the legal system that he ended up learning some lessons that made his life as a criminal a lot easier.

'Dr. Mark Esparza'
And this is where Fred starts — from smalltime crook to big-time impersonator. He uses the name Dr. F. Mark Esparza and his new job, psychiatrist.

Brito: Having sat in so many different courtrooms, trials, my own preliminary hearing, I learned to master the vocabulary of the district attorney, the public defender. 

One day, while waiting for his own case to be heard, Fred heard a court-appointed psychiatrist persuade a judge to release a defendant into the psychiatrist’s custody.

Brito: I replayed that for a friend of mine. I portrayed myself as a psychiatrist and used all of the different vocabularies that doctors use.

Mankiewicz: Nobody asked you for ID?

Brito: Never.

Mankiewicz: Or to see a medical license?

Brito: Never.

Mankiewicz: Or any proof at all that you were a psychiatrist?

Brito: No. And it all happened in one day.

And Fred says the judge released his friend.

Mankiewicz: You’re good.

Brito: Back then, I guess I thought I was.

But after serving another sentence for grand theft auto, Fred vowed to turn over a new leaf—to stop living a life of crime and get a job like everyone else.

Mankiewicz: Was there a time after one of these prison stints where you thought to yourself, “I’m going straight, I’m not doing this anymore.”

Brito: Yes. Everytime.

Mankiewicz: And every time you go back to it?

Brito: Exactly.

Mankiewicz: Because you couldn’t stop?

Brito: It wasn’t that I couldn’t stop, it’s just that I had to survive.  I had to find a way to either get a job, to get some money, or I had to do something to keep myself busy.

That decision gave birth to a lot of people—all of whom were part of one giant lie.  Fred landed prestigious jobs, and in some cases received high accolades for his good work, all under different names. 

The story of 'Mark Gomez'

Ken Sanchez: Mark Gomez was an incredible individual. And he gave so much back to this community. His generosity and his giving made life for so many individuals much better.

And that’s part of what makes the story of Fred Brito so difficult to tell. Because he tried to hide by doing good work. And in the process, he lied to nearly everyone.

As this man was about to find out on camera.

Mankiewicz: The world would be a better place if there were more people like Mark Gomez?

Sanchez: It would be.

Mankiewicz: Let me tell you a couple of things about Mark Gomez. First of all, his name is not Mark Gomez.

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