The ultimate con artist

The year was 2002 and Fred Brito was on the lam, posing as Father Fred, a Catholic priest in Yuma, Arizona. He fooled the local monsignior. He fooled Gene and Maria Doten, the couple he married and sent off on a honeymoon. But it turned out Fred couldn’t fool U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

When traveling back from a trip to Mexico, Fred was stopped at the border and a computer check revealed Father Fred had a warrant out for his arrest in California. With the help of another priest who innocently vouched for him, Fred talked his way through the border checkpoint—but he knew he’d soon be found out. So in the middle of the night, Fred left Yuma and headed up the highway to Phoenix, where he prepared to once again pass himself off as a man of the cloth.

Fred Brito: I went out to Staples.  And I ordered a seal.  I designed a seal.  Stamped the seal so it looked really official.  And I went to “The Diocese of Phoenix.”  And no background check.  No nothing. “Do you speak Spanish?”  “Yes.” They had an empty parish that needed a priest. 

In Phoenix, Fred performed all priestly duties.  Until one day, without warning, U.S Marshalls arrested him on those embezzlement charges in California. Fred was sentenced to 16 months in state prison. He had some time to think about the people he had fooled while he was a priest. 

Josh Mankiewicz, Dateline correspondent: Did you ever think about the families that you were working with that they’re gonna find out later?  Maybe tonight when they see this interview?  They’re gonna realize that the person that married them wasn’t a real priest? You have any conscience about that at all?  Do you feel bad?

Fred Brito: There’s no way that I could repair the damage that I did.

Mankiewicz: Did you feel bad about it at the time or are you just, it was a part of avoiding capture?

Brito: I was playing the role of a priest, but at the same time, that I was doing those baptisms and those funerals and those weddings, I knew what I was doing. But somebody had to do it.

Mankiewicz: So your argument is  “Yeah, I feel bad about it but, on the other hand, I did provide a service to those people. And they wanted a priest and I gave ‘em a priest.”

Brito: That’s true. If I were to die today, I have that to bear.  I have that ton of weight to bear, that I played with god. That’s a penalty I’ll have to pay one day.

Some people are already paying that penalty. Gene and Maria Doten returned from their honeymoon to the shocking news that Father Fred, the wonderful priest who married them, was in fact not a priest at all.

Maria Doten: So then I started crying.  It was really devastating to me.

Devastating because the Dotens are strict Catholics. And that since Father Fred was really ex-con Fred, the Eucharist or the body and blood of Christ was therefore missing from their marriage ceremony. 

Mankiewicz: So you ended up doing the whole wedding all over again?

Maria Doten: Uh-huh.

Mankiewicz: At the cost of?

Gene Doten: Just redoing it, $10,000. 

Mankiewicz: $10,000 because he was a fraud.

Gene Doten: Yes.

Fred married other couples too—but we couldn’t find them. So if you’re watching tonight...and this is the face of the priest who married you, give us a call. You also might want to check with your church to make sure your marriage is valid. 

That news was very hard for the Dotens to hear. But at the time, Fred was not filled with remorse about the Dotens or anyone else. Instead, he was full of optimism that he would be able to continue to lie his way into job after job.

Brito: I was leading two different lives.  One was the life I wanted to live and the other life was the life that I hope I would never have gotten started with in the first place. But you know what, this is the key, is that when you come out of prison, I have the deck is stacked so far against me.  One, I’m an ex felon, who’s gonna hire me?  So I had to dream up these other identities to get a job.

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Image gallery: Brito at different times, jobs

'Frederiqkoe DiBritto' at UCLA, Red Cross
And so it was time for a new persona—the riskiest yet. The name: Federiqkoe DiBritto the Third.  The title was Director of Development for the Division of Digestive Diseases at UCLA. He would raise money for one of the most prestigious medical institutions in the world.

Fred had gained entre’ to that world with an imposter’s tools: brains, charm, and the gift of gab.

He’d never gone to business school, but he laid out a step by step plan.  And convinced his audience he had the right numbers. Fred began earning a six figure salary and working for a doctor named Gary Gitnick.

Brito: UCLA. was almost like a dream come true. I didn’t know it at that point, but Gary Gitnick was the doctor to the stars. I mean that job, I escorted  everybody that you can think of that was on a who’s who’s book went to Dr. Gitnick’s office.

True? Or another Fred Brito fantasy? UCLA will neither confirm or deny that Fred did in fact rub elbows with the stars.

UCLA did confirm that they fired Fred after learning he was an ex-con. Fred was never accused of any crime while he was there. Remember, it may be dishonest and stupid, but it is not illegal to lie on your resume.

Brito: I was not stealing ‘cause I didn’t steal. I just portrayed somebody that I wasn’t.

And that’s Fred’s argument in a nutshell— that he only lied to get work because ex-cons can’t get work. And Fred claims that while he may not always have been on the side of the angels, he never hurt anyone.

Dereck Andrade: This guy was absolutely amazing in what he pulled.  And he has damaged so many people.  He’s damaged so many reputations, including myself, that I don’t know if I’m ever going to regroup from this situation on a professional level.

Dereck Andrade met Fred Brito in August 2005.  Andrade was part of a panel evaluating Fred in his final interview for a position with the Red Cross in Pasadena, California.

Andrade: In Fred’s case, it was an amazing interview. The man was very charming, he was very personable, he answered questions immediately, he didn’t hem, he didn’t haw. He seemed very intelligent.

But at the same time, Andrade thought Fred was just too good to be true and that worried him.

Andrade: He was a little bit too polished. And this person was coming in with amazing credentials. He had been executive director of several organizations, he had pedigree that you wouldn’t see, generally, applying for a position like this.

And the Red Cross hired him even though Andrade says he recommended against it.  And within weeks, Fred Brito had a new line on his long, dishonest resume. The name: Frederiq Brito-Gomez. The title? Chief Financial Development Officer. 

It was late August of 2005. Fred was just getting settled in his new job when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Suddenly, Fred had two challenges. He had to keep his real identity hidden—but at the same time, he had to deliver as a fund-raiser or risk being exposed as a fraud. Had he finally gone too far?

Andrade: This man is just out of control. As I’m concerned, Fred Brito is a monster. He’s an absolute monster.

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