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Chey Charlesworth, 38, from Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court last Thursday after admitting six charges of theft, two counts of falsifying records and asking for 19 further offences to be taken into consideration.
Charlesworth moved into 38-year-old Angela Miller's home at Collier Close, Ely, in January 2006, approximately three months after they met on an internet dating agency.
Between February and April, Miss Miller was twice told by her bank that she was overdrawn. She asked for statements to be sent, but didn't receive any.
When she did see a statement in May last year she found that approximately £7,000 had been spent on her credit card.
Miss Miller was shocked to discover later that Charlesworth had been a persistent offender for 19 years and had used her card 48 times between January and May to fund a gambling addiction, hiding her bank statements throughout the period.
Charlesworth had also stolen money from the house and when Miss Miller questioned him, he blamed everything on her mother.
Miss Miller's friend Carole Powell, who attended the sentencing, said: "Chey is a freeloader, a liar and a cheat and the sentence should have been longer. He could be out in six months and it is only a matter of time before he re-offends.
"He has no empathy for his victims and takes no responsibility for his crimes. He blamed Angela for the fact he had access to her credit card."
The court was told that Charlesworth, a former chef, had a long list of previous convictions, including theft from an employer and theft of a credit card from a friend.
Miss Miller, a regulatory affairs manager for a pharmaceutical company, has claimed most of the money back through insurance but has been left emotionally scarred.
Mrs Powell said: "Chey talked of marriage and Angela believed she had found someone she could spend the rest of her life with. She now finds it difficult to trust people and this will take her a long time to get over.
"It's not easy meeting people when you have a demanding job but internet dating is not the answer because people can pretend to be whoever they want online.
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