‘Casanova Scammer’ pleads guilty

Brian Wedgeworth seemed to have a persuasive way with women.

Purporting to be a doctor who attended prestigious universities, he persuaded women he met on dating websites to send him large sums of money, luxury items and bank account information.

But he only played a doctor on Match.com, Christian-Mingle, Elite Singles and other dating websites, federal prosecutors said. And they said he had not actually attended those universities.

Rather, Wedgeworth, whom authorities are calling “the Casanova Scammer,” developed romantic relationships with women across the United States by presenting himself falsely, federal prosecutors said.

He defrauded more than 30 women out of at least $1.3 million from about October 2016 to March 2021, prosecutors said. They said he used the money from the scheme to buy items like Rolex watches — and even tickets to a 2018 Sugar Bowl game between Clemson and Alabama.

Wedgeworth, 46, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Tallahassee, Fla., to 25 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, said Jason Coody, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Wedgeworth, formerly of Tallahassee and Center Point, Ala., faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire and mail fraud counts and up to 10 years in prison for the money laundering counts, Coody said.

Wedgeworth presented himself on profiles as a physician and surgeon affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School, prosecutors alleged.