A gay man who embezzled $818,000 from SeaWorld after working there as a manager was sentenced Sept. 23 to 30 months in federal prison for wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
Sebastian Jobin, 48, whose legal name is Wilfred David Joseph Jobin-Reyes, was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller to repay SeaWorld the $818,000 he took from them. He worked for SeaWorld for 17 years.
Miller also ordered Jobin to repay $177,000 to his former roommate, Jonathan Isaacs, whose identity he used to get credit cards to spend at casinos and trips. Jobin has reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to pay $207,000 as a penalty for not declaring his total income to the IRS.
Jobin will get credit for the seven months he has spent in prison since his arrest in Dallas where he had fled after SeaWorld investigators determined they had paid money to a phony company that Jobin owned for non-existent merchandise.
Jobin claimed the firm was a real company that sold trinkets and that some of his merchandise was for sale on a consignment basis in a Point Loma business. SeaWorld could only document one delivery of merchandise over eight years.
Watching the sentencing was Jobin’s husband, his mother and mother-in-law, Isaac’s parents, his brother, stepfather and friends.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” said Jobin, wearing a tan prison uniform. “I loved my job and I still love SeaWorld.”
Jobin read a letter about previous difficulties in his life, and wept as said he was molested by a teacher 30+ years ago. He said he escaped by becoming addicted to gambling and work. He talked about watching Rev. Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye who were television evangelists before Bakker’s downfall.
Jobin said he had a former partner who killed himself in his home, adding “I carried around that guilt for 19 years.”
“None of those things are an excuse. I’m a different person (now). I will never be that person again,” said Jobin, who added that being fired from SeaWorld was his “biggest relief” so the fraud wouldn’t continue.
The judge told him bringing up unrelated things to the crime appears like a “dissertation of excuses” rather than acceptance of responsibility. “You were living a pretty high life … a pattern of conduct you were very comfortable with,” said Miller.
“This was a highly sophisticated, carefully orchestrated scheme over a long period of time,” said Miller, noting Jobin’s lavish trips, cruises and clothing that he spent money on from illegal proceeds.
Jobin and his husband moved from Mission Hills after his firing in January 2015, and traveled to New Orleans, Hawaii, Colorado, Atlanta, Alabama, St. Louis, Minnesota, Chicago, New Mexico – all of which were done after he was unemployed, according to papers filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Allen.
Noting the theft from his friend, Miller said this: “That was unconscionable what you did to him.”
Miller said once Jobin is paroled, his release conditions will bar him from gambling, having a job with fiduciary responsibilities or soliciting any type of funds in any job. He ordered him to pay restitution at a rate of $500 per month upon release.
“I think you’re creative. You have perspective of what you’ve done,” said Miller. “I do think this is a turning point in your life.”
The prosecutor and the probation department asked for a 37-month term. Allen noted that Jobin’s former roommate was actually a suspect in the theft initially because Jobin listed him as the owner of the fake company. Investigators later learned he was also a victim of Jobin.
Jobin’s attorney, Stacie Patterson, sought a 2-year sentence. “He wants to pay back the money that was stolen,” she said. Jobin pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and filing a false income tax return in May. Patterson said Jobin was once a drug addict and in his letter to the judge said he kicked the habit in 2001.
Jobin was the producer of two gay romantic comedy movies, called 29th & Gay, and Ready OK in 2005 and 2008.
In a letter to the judge, Jobin wrote that he went on Disney cruises because they had no gambling or casinos on board and he viewed it as an escape because “being in the middle of the ocean makes it hard for people to get a hold of you.”
Jobin married his husband, Byron Jobin-Reyes, on Catalina Island in 2014, and his husband asked the judge for leniency. “I love this man unconditionally,” he wrote, adding “there is a total other side to him.”
His husband wrote “there were no red flags” or indications that Jobin was committing massive fraud. He said Jobin donated to several LGBT charities.
The prosecutor wrote that Jobin “began lying to the company before his career there even began to take off.” In his application for a promotion, he listed two colleges he never attended, and she wrote he dropped out of high school in the 10th grade.
Allen wrote that Jobin told the probation department while in jail that he had a degree from a medical academy, but officials were unable to find any such academy.
