'The Goldbergs' star Hayley Orrantia opens up about ex-boyfriend who stole from her
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hayley Orrantia is still healing after being betrayed by her ex-boyfriend.
The singer and actress opened up about the emotions she went through after discovering Brandon Pelletier, a former Marine with whom she was in a relationship for over a year, was stealing money from her.
They first met on the set of her ABC show "The Goldbergs" when he visited as part of a veteran tour group. Orrantia was immediately drawn to him. “He was handsome and charismatic and able to draw the attention of the room," she told People magazine.
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The 25-year-old admitted she was deeply in love with the 32-year-old and thought they would get married one day, but everything changed when she found out he stole almost $9,000 from her.
“It was heartbreaking,” she confessed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Orrantia's bank made her aware of Pelletier's theft after multiple withdrawals. He also racked up fraudulent charges on credit cards. She confronted him and then filed a police report after which he was taken into custody and released on bond.
“He didn’t spend any time in jail, but he has to pay me restitution,” Orrantia revealed. “So I got that. I kept asking myself, ‘Why do I need to do this?’ And really it’s for myself. It’s the fact that I’ve always been a truth teller.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}To help cope with the events and grieve, Orrantia turned to her music and kept writing new songs.
“It’s taken a lot of therapy and a lot of time to reevaluate how to trust people, how to trust myself to know the difference between a person with good intentions and a person with bad intentions,” she said.
Her latest EP, "The Way Out," will be released on May 24.