7-13-2022 5:47pm

Compton Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Criminal Charges for Targeting and Robbing Gay Men

Anita Johnson-Brown Editor

LOS ANGELES – Derrick Patterson, 23, pleaded guilty on July 12, 2022, to federal criminal allegations of the intent to rob gay men he became acquainted with on the online dating app, Grindr.

Patterson is charged with one count of aggravated identity theft and Hobbs Act robbery.

The plea agreement the suspect signed, said that he confessed to robbing five victims from June 2021 to March 2022, Patterson's victims were bisexual, gay, queer, and transgender.

The suspect met his victims at their homes or in motel rooms under the deception of engaging in a sexual meeting. When Patterson arrived at the location he would ask to use the victim's cell phone.

While using one of the victim's phones, Patterson went to the victim’s kitchen and took a kitchen knife, intimidated the victim, and took the sum of $3,950 from the victim’s, Venmo account.

Patterson also paid for two Hotels.com expenses and sent text messages from the victim's cell phone to the victim's family and friends in Nevada, to ask that funds be sent to the victim, which Patterson planned to thwart.

In February 2022, another victim became the target of Patterson, when he went to the victim’s house under the facade to engage in a sexual encounter, Patterson requested to use the victim’s mobile phone. After giving Patterson the phone, the victim shifted away and heard the sound of a stun gun start. Patterson went in pursuit of the victim with the stun gun and demanded cash. The victim gave $120, to the defendant who then demanded jewelry from the victim.

After Patterson exited the victim’s residence, he used the victim's phone to ask the victim’s contacts for funds. Patterson also used the victim’s Apple Pay and opened a line of credit with Goldman Sachs in the victim’s name. Patterson also went to a T-Mobile in Los Angeles and used the Goldman Sachs credit to buy Apple Airpods for around $273. In addition, Patterson charged the victim’s bank card to pay for a room at a hotel.

Patterson confessed that during the other robbery incidents he attacked one victim, using a homophobic insult, and threatened to use a firearm on another one of his victims, at a hotel suite.

United States District Judge John F. Walter ordered Patterson to be in court on September 19, 2022, to attend a sentencing hearing. Patterson faces a sentence of 22 years in federal prison.

The FBI’s investigation is continuing. The Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Beverly Hills Police Department have provided substantial help.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeremiah M. Levine of the Violent and Organized Crime Section is prosecuting the case.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim or targeted by Patterson is urged to contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office 24 hours a day at (310) 477-6565.