Man Who Allegedly Romanced, Duped 4 Women Out of Money Gets 2 Years

A Concord man who allegedly “wined . . . and dined . . . and duped” four women out of several thousand dollars was sentenced to two years in state prison Monday after he pleaded no contest to 10 felony charges stemming from his encounters with the women, according to a prosecutor.

The charges included one count each of bigamy and auto theft, and several forgery and grand theft charges--of money the women said was theirs until Donald Tanner allegedly stole it from them as he wooed them with dinners and romantic drives.

Tanner, 56, changed his plea of not guilty as his trial in Contra Costa County Superior Court was about to begin, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Coleman said.

Tanner’s public defender, Jack Rauch, said Tanner “still denies he is guilty of some or all of those charges,” but “he felt it in his interest, on my advice, not to contest the charges.”

Tanner denied all along that he had, as one of the women put it, romanced them “out of (their) socks.” “I’m not a Don Juan,” the plump, balding Tanner had declared in a jail interview. He said that one of the four was “a woman scorned” who persuaded the others to press on “because they’re hurt, they’re mad.”

Nevertheless, the four women, who learned only gradually of one another’s existence, joined forces and put together much of the paper trail of evidence--bounced checks, phone records, bank statements and even marriage licenses--that police said they used in establishing their case.