Con artist pretends to be Penn student

College junior Zach King was introduced to Eugene Tinsley last year. They became friends, and Tinsley “came around more and more,” eventually living in King’s off-campus house without paying rent, essentially “squatting,” King said.

However, King never really considered the possibility that Tinsley wasn’t a Penn student.

After going to court in late June, Tinsley pled guilty this year to two counts each of theft, forgery, receiving stolen property and securing execution of documents by deception. King and another student brought charges against him in the case.

“I always kind of knew there was something weird about it,” but never really thought twice, King said.

“There are con artists in the world. Every couple of years something [like this] pops up,” Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said. “[Tinsley is] a specialist and very good at what he does.”

Tinsley pretended he was a graduate student at Penn, even becoming the pledgemaster at the pre-med fraternity. Some nights, Tinsley would even “come home and write papers,” King said.

After not receiving rent from Tinsley for several months, King and his roommates “nicely kicked him out,” King said. Tinsley left for a period of time before moving back in with them around winter break last year. Later in the school year, when King went to buy gas for a trip, his card was denied, even though he knew he had enough money.

When Penn Police investigated the matter, King discovered Tinsley stole about $1,300 in checks from him. Tinsley also “involved another student who had been duped the same way,” King said.

A list of people forbidden from entering College Houses is kept with the staff at the Information Center — which Tinsley is now currently on — but it is confidential and students are not given access to this list, Rush said.

“We don’t want to burden students with someone who is not welcome at Penn,” she said. “That’s why we have the guards, we have the police, we work with [the College Houses].”

However, this doesn’t necessarily stop individuals like Tinsley from returning to campus.

When a Penn student signs someone into the building, the only person who can prevent them from doing so is the worker at the Information Center desk or the AlliedBarton security guard, according to AlliedBarton District Manager Sydney Toombs.

King reported seeing Tinsley on campus this year. Faculty members have also seen him on campus “as recently as move-in,” according to an email that Associate Director for College Houses Pamela Robinson sent to the House Deans at Penn.

Robinson noted Tinsley is “adept at perpetrating a false identity … and ingratiating himself to administrators,” prompting a Resident Adviser in Harrison College House to email his floor, “Be smart. Avoid this guy. Stay alive.”

Because the crimes for which Tinsley was arrested occurred off-campus, his probation does not forbid him from entering Penn’s campus, Chief of Penn Police Mark Dorsey said.

“People do have the right to freedom,” Dorsey explained.

While King said Tinsley apologized to him for his actions — and even introduced King to Tinsley’s mother — when he ran into him earlier this year, Dorsey emphasized that students need to be careful.

“He just preyed on people because it was so easy to come in and make friendships,” he said. “Make sure you know who your friends are.”

Staff writer Jennifer Sun contributed to the reporting of this article.

Comments (22)

Eugene Tinsley the legend. He stole over $800 from a roommate of mine in back summer rent.

I remember when he got “deployed to Iraq”, he was truly distraught. Yet he showed up at our apartment on election night a couple months later. I wonder whether he was even in the army.

Wonder why Tinsley’s picture isn’t posted so we can more easily identify and avoid this despicable con artist

Your article doesn’t reveal most of the charges against Tinsley were withdrawn. Court records show he only received 2 yrs probation and some fines -he had a public defender. Beware, Penn community, Tinsley’s still loose in West Philly.

“People do have the right to freedom”

I’m so glad we have the DP to remind us of these things. Particularly in the form of a quote.

“All men are created equal,” said Thomas Jefferson.

Oh my gosh. I just saw him last weekend at McDonalds after a party. He told me has family in the area so he came around to visit them. I’ve known him for about a year, and always thought he was a nice guy. My friends actually signed him into their dorm and I went up to hang out with them all. Im really freaked out right now.

Picture: http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/a/9/7/f/highres_20383391.jpeg

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/member/a/9/7/f/highres_20383391.jpeg

honestly, i don’t understand why people are reacting like he’s a killer. not condoning his actions at all though…
but also, there’s no need to worry. he doesn’t even live in the area anymore. i know this for a fact…

The guy on the right
http://www.flickr.com/photos/edfund/4295132603/

Even after reading this, I still don’t believe everything this says. Eugene Tinsley was always a good guy and to think that he could pull something like this is beyond me. Where is the proof?

when i met him i honestly thought that he was one of the nicest most genuine ppl i’ve met here at penn.. i can’t even begin to understand why he would pull a stunt like that.. and what’s most disturbing is that he carried a gun around because he ‘worked’ for the police force or something of that sort..

@Penn Student 3….let’s just say that I was one of the individuals who Eugene stole from. You may not believe what the article states but it is all fact. Eugene being a nice person has doesn’t absolve the fact that he did these crimes. No one is acting like he is a murder but he certainly is a felon. The lesson that should be learned from all of this that no matter how nice someone is, they can still be a felon

I think this guy is great—how many people could pull off pretending to be a phd student? I wonder what his major was. Sorry to those that lost money, but I would love to meet this guy!

ok…Former Penn Employee…im sorry you lost money…but…Eugene is someone who has served his country to protect our nation from terrorists. The developmental approach that has been taken toward him, even if he did do this, is unnecessary. People make mistakes, and again, im not sure if he did, but if he did, there is no reason to continue to beat him up for it. If he got arrested and convicted, that is punishment enough because no one wants to be in jail. Stop punishing him for it.

In response everyone who said he is a nice guy: what do you think con artists do. That’s pretty much the entire game. While you might think you know him, he’s done his best to make sure you believe he’s just a guy caught up in some mess. He’s not; he’s a thief and a manipulator.

In response to the comment noting that “he served the country”- Because of his “military” service he should hold himself up to higher standards than to take advantage of Penn students and employees. No one truly knows who Eugene Tinsley is considering the fact that he has manipulated and lied in order to conspire against others for a selfish means. He succeeded in his attempts to con way too may people. As a person who has interacted with him and knows many of his “victims”, I can say first hand that he deserves this attention-he has been “playing” people for years. He is punishing himself for continuing to attempt to scam people. He deserves this scrutiny. I also believe that Penn dropped the ball somewhere because there is no way this should have taken place for how long it did.

Penn Student 3: How does Eugene serving our country have anything to do with these crimes? Your comment makes it seem as though that if you serve your country then you can steal…anyways I won’t get in an argument with you but the fact remains is that what this article stated was fact. I have no intention on doing any more to Eugene than what he already did to himself. People on this thread are simply stating what happened and at the end of the day I wish this never happened to him and that he never did these things but he did them.

Please don’t be fooled: Eugene was a trickster, and pretended to be at his worksite (emailing his boss that he was there) for a month, and when he was caught, he was “called back to Iraq.” Pulling the military card everytime you get caught is unacceptable.

yup this is the eugene I know! He was a student at kutztown university and eventually got kicked out. He said he had to leave because he was being called back into basic training to eventually be deployed however he never left philadelphia. He even told one of his “frat brothers” bour too long ago that he had just returned from iraq and finished a dual masters program at upenn. I tried to warn people about his lying heart but people just kept looking at me like the crazy xgf, I guess now they will believe me! And the “mother” he introduced king to was most likely not his real mother. He likes to call older women that take him in his mom. His actual mother is also a thief. regardless this whole story is very sad cuz gene has all the potential in the world to do amazing, legal things with his life! Not sure why he chose the easy road :(

Yo this is crazy, believe it or not I pledged a certain historically black fraternity wit this brother, and back then in 06 he still was kinda shady. Am hurt 2 c that he has come 2 this, smdh

Gene has always been a liar in Kutztown. He NEVER served in the military, he pretended to be engaged on numerous accounts, and he was also sleeping with a gay guy on campus.. Finally justice is served!!

People be careful, if it is too good to be true, it usually is!

I didn’t do any of this. Thank those of you who still support me, God Bless. It’s hard to believe people would want me to fail, especially in this day and age. I’m just grateful I can rely on those of you out there who keep falling for my schemes.

#UPennFail

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