9 Years In Prison For Man Who Robbed Men From Dating App

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — A Compton man was sentenced Monday to more than nine years in federal prison for targeting and robbing men he met on the Grindr dating app.

Derrick Patterson was sentenced to 111 months behind bars by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $84,195 in restitution. At the hearing, Walter applied a hate-crime enhancement to Patterson's sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Patterson, 23, pleaded guilty in July to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Patterson admitted to robbing five victims between June 2021 and March 2022.

"According to his plea agreement, Patterson targeted his victims by using Grindr, a social networking platform for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Patterson met his victims at their homes or in hotel rooms under the pretense of sexual encounters. Once there, Patterson asked to use the victims’ phones," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in July.

Patterson would then threaten the victims with physical violence and weapons and take money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. His guilty plea includes a number of incidents, including a final robbery that occurred on March 26 of this year at a hotel in Beverly Hills, according to court papers.

Patterson faced a maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison.

City News Service contributed to this report.