+1, ran into this issue, another individual tried to get into my phone and "bricked" it. I was able to use the workaround to get back in the phone. But I have to use the workaround everytime after my phone sleeps or I turn off the display myself, because it goes back to wanting my google password, which doesn't work.
Issue 4784 - android - Google credentials don't unlock phone after failing too many pattern attempts - Project Hosting on Google Code
At least I can get into it to back up anything that isn't stored on google's servers.