The ultimate con artist

An immaculate deception
The year was 2002, and Fred Brito had adopted a new personality: his name Father Federico B. Gomez de Esparza, a Catholic Priest.

The monsignor didn’t stand a chance. The imposter had him at “hello.”

Monsignior O’ Keefe: Fred came in here with very good credentials, supposedly good credentials. And wanted to really help out as a priest.

Monsignior Richard O’Keefe has been in the priesthood for 48 years. Over those years, he’s heard it all, some of the worst and most hurtful things people can do to each other. Maybe that’s why the man O’Keefe knew as Father Fred seemed such a breath of fresh air.

Monsignior O’ Keefe: He had a great knowledge of the workings of the Church, great knowledge of the history of the Church. He knew the Scriptures and he was able to come up with some very good answers.

Father Fred came highly recommended, or so it seemed. He carried a letter of introduction from a small church in Mexico and just the right papers to accompany that. Fred was proud of those documents because he created all of them just a few days earlier, on his laptop.

Brito: The reason why I picked the Catholic Church was because who—what FBI agent would look at a Catholic Church for me? 

Fred was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Yuma, in part because he speaks Spanish and there was a real shortage of priests who could do that.

Josh Mankiewicz, Dateline correspondent: Was there ever a time when your suspicions were aroused?

Monsignior O’ Keefe: No. He was very compassionate. He wanted to help people.  He put up a very, very good show when he celebrated mass or attempted to celebrate mass and when he dealt with people.

Mankiewicz: I kinda get the feeling that if it hadn’t turned out that he was a fraud and that he wasn’t really a priest...

Monsignior O’ Keefe: He’d still be here.

Mankiewicz: And you’d be happy to have him?

Monsignior O’Keefe: Be still here, no question about it.

While posing as a priest, Fred presided over Sunday masses, baptisms, confessions and weddings. He did well. Just ask Maria and Gene Doten.

Maria Doten, parishoner: Everybody loved him, thought he was a great priest. He’s great, gave a great homily…

Father Fred's homily: “The big day arrived and the test of how strong this marriage is begins the moment they leave this church.”

Maria Doten: I mean he was just... fantastic. 

Gene Doten: Amazing.

Maria and Gene met Father Fred just a few weeks before they were to be married.  The priest who was originally was supposed to marry them became ill, so Father Fred stepped in.

Gene Doten: Here’s a man that when he gave a homily, he had so much truth to it. I mean, he says I’m not gonna put icing on the cake basically and tell you, “You guys are lovey-dovey getting married.  It’s gonna be tough. And the only way to hold that marriage together is through your faith, through god. And when the tough times hit you know you are going to need something to draw on.” And you’re just listening to this man and you’re going “Wow, he’s telling it like it is.”

Mankiewicz: So in terms of being a priest, he more than delivered.

Gene Doten: More than delivered.

“...and for Gene and Maria don’t lose sight of him because with God all things are possible.”

The Dotens say they never suspected Father Fred wasn’t a real priest even though some things about him struck them as a little odd—like the time Maria went to confession.

Maria Doten: When I came in, I had come in after my husband,  he said something about “Well, I know your last name begins with a ‘D’ and I know you’re getting married tomorrow.” So I thought that’s kind of strange, that he’s kind of playing this guessing game with me.

Mankiewicz: Because it’s supposed to be anonymous.

Maria Doten: Yeah.

And then there was the wedding ceremony.

Maria Doten: At our wedding, he actually walked down the aisle behind my maid of honor. The maid of honor is the last one to go and then the flower girls and then comes the bride.  Well before the bride came the priest (laughs)…

In Catholic ceremonies, the priest is normally waiting at the alter, but in the excitement of the day, the Doten’s didn’t notice it until they saw their wedding video.  Looking back at it now, they wish that had been the only thing wrong with Father Fred.

Maria Doten: I was depressed for like three days, crying. It was just very upsetting to me.

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