‘Dine-and-Dash Dater’ Gets Jail Time as Part of Plea Deal

Paul Guadalupe Gonzales, the man accused of repeatedly luring women to restaurants only to order pricey meals and then vanish once the check came, will serve jail time as part of a plea deal with Los Angeles prosecutors. Gonzalez, 45, pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of defrauding an innkeeper by nonpayment and one misdemeanor count of petty theft, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. He has been sentenced to 120 days in county jail and three years of summary probation. Gonzalez has also been ordered to pay restitution and has been banned from the dating websites PlentyofFish.com and Bumble.com, where prosecutors say he preyed on unsuspecting women as part of a serial “dine-and-dash” scheme from May 2016 through April 2018. Prosecutors had charged Gonzales with felony extortion, but a judge dismissed those charges.