Well, sure, but there's a difference - I don't know what those other delinquents were like, but this guy is obviously faking it. In narrative terms, nobody trots out the 'I got a sick mother' story unless they're trying to play on someone's sympathy - were it investigated, one would find out that the story holds about as much water as a leaky bucket. Clearly, young or not, this guy is a nasty piece of work who fancies himself a slick operator - I think the webs were justified.