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OT: This is why I'm not a fan of GoFundMe's


KingRevolver
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BREAKING NEWS

Police raid NJ couple's home after GoFundMe cash raised for homeless vet disappears

 

Police investigating a New Jersey couple ordered by a judge to appear in court to explain what happened to the $400,000 they raised online for a homeless Good Samaritan had their home raided by authorities Thursday morning.

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  • 2 months later...

Fuckin' assholes.  Now people who really do need help with suffer from this because people will be incredulous about the stories they read.

Start one for yourself kinger, say you were rolled by a hooker and you lost all the cash you were going to use for your kids birthday party(or something similar), see how much you can get?

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  • 4 months later...

Three days after Johnny Bobbitt Jr. was sentenced for his role in a GoFundMe campaign that netted $402,706 and defrauded donors with a fake Good Samaritan tale, Katelyn McClure appeared before the same judge in Superior Court in New Jersey to admit her participation in the conspiracy that preyed on people’s sympathies.

McClure, 29, of Bordentown, pleaded guilty Monday to a single charge of theft by deception before Judge Christopher Garrenger in Mount Holly. McClure admitted she and her ex-boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, befriended Bobbitt, 36, a former homeless vet, outside a Philadelphia casino and then later went along with D’Amico’s plan to create a false story that Bobbitt offered her his last $20 when she ran out of gas off I-95 in Philadelphia in November 2017 in an area where he had been panhandling.

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She said D’Amico, 39, of Florence told her “this was for Johnny and if I did it, it would help Johnny out.” She said that she and D’Amico had given Bobbitt money when he was panhandling outside a casino and even brought him gifts.

Under the terms of McClure’s plea agreement with county prosecutors, she faces up to four years in state prison. The second-degree charge of theft by deception would be reduced to a third-degree crime. She also agreed to testify against D’Amico and Bobbitt and to cooperate with authorities. McClure is scheduled to be sentenced in Burlington County on June 3.

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More than 14,000 donors across the country contributed to the GoFundMe campaign and were led to believe the money would be used to help get Bobbitt, a former Marine, off the streets. The three appeared on national TV and on radio shows to promote their Paying it Forward campaign, and it went viral over the holiday season.

McClure calmly answered questions posed by her defense attorney, James Gerrow, during a 30-minute hearing Monday, and described her role in the scam as limited. She said she allowed D’Amico to take a photograph of her and Bobbitt on an exit ramp off I-95 and admitted the picture became “the face of the campaign.”

McClure arrived at the hearing with her parents and was dressed in a black top and black slacks and boots, the same attire she appeared in when she pleaded guilty six weeks earlier to a conspiracy charge related to the scam in federal court in Camden.

She admitted Monday that she and D’Amico spent much of the money that was raised on vacations, casino gambling excursions, designer handbags, a BMW, two trucks, and other purchases.

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Bobbitt lived for a short time in a camper next to the couple’s home in Florence, N.J., and used some of the $25,000 he received for illicit drugs, she said. She admitted she dropped him off near “an alley in Philadelphia” and assumed he made these purchases, but never actually watched.

Johnny Bobbitt sits in the courtroom with his attorney John Keesler, right, as he is sentenced to a drug treatment program and five years of probation after his involvement in what prosecutors say was a nationwide crowdfunding scam at Burlington County Superior Court in Mount Holly, N.J., on Friday, April 12, 2019. Bobbitt's plea deal requires him to testify against alleged co-conspirators Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico.

TIM TAI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Johnny Bobbitt sits in the courtroom with his attorney John Keesler, right, as he is sentenced to a drug treatment program and five years of probation after his involvement in what prosecutors say was a nationwide crowdfunding scam at Burlington County Superior Court in Mount Holly, N.J., on Friday, April 12, 2019. Bobbitt's plea deal requires him to testify against alleged co-conspirators Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico.

D’Amico, 39, of Florence, has also been charged by Burlington County prosecutors with theft by deception and conspiracy, but he has not yet been indicted by a grand jury.

Assistant Burlington County Prosecutor Andrew McDonnell said the state would not recommend any particular sentence for McClure, but would rely upon the suggestion of the state’s pre-sentence trial team. He also said the plea agreement called for McClure to pay more than $400,000 in restitution to GoFundMe, which already refunded donors after authorities announced the fraud had taken place.

McDonnell say McClure’s repayment would “be subject to her ability to pay” it. He also said her sentence could run concurrently with the sentence a federal court might impose in June.

On March 6, McClure pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court for her involvement in the GoFundMe scheme, which crossed state lines and included interstate banking. She is scheduled to be sentenced on that charge June 19 in U.S. District Court in Camden.

Kate McClure walks out of US Courthouse in Camden next to attorney, James Gerrow, and her parents after pleading guilty to being a co-conspirator in a $400,000 GoFundMe campaign scam Tuesday, March 6, 2019.

MARGO REED / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Kate McClure walks out of US Courthouse in Camden next to attorney, James Gerrow, and her parents after pleading guilty to being a co-conspirator in a $400,000 GoFundMe campaign scam Tuesday, March 6, 2019.

McClure’s plea came after Bobbitt, a long-time drug addict, was sentenced in state court to five years of special probation which requires him to enroll in a court-supervised live-in drug rehabilitation program. If he fails to complete the program, he could be sentenced to five years in state prison with 18 months of parole ineligibility.

He also agreed at that time to testify against both McClure and D’Amico at trial.

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County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said Friday that Bobbitt was being transferred from the Burlington County Jail to a drug treatment facility. He declined to name the facility.

Bobbitt also was prosecuted by federal authorities and faces an additional six to 30 months in federal prison on a single charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering under the terms of his plea arrangement. That term could be concurrent or consecutive to the sentence in state court.

Federal prosecutors have declined to say whether D’Amico may be charged, or even if he is under investigation. He has not responded to requests for comment.

The Paying it Forward campaign was created Nov. 10, 2017 by McClure. The initial goal was to raise $10,000 with the goal of providing Bobbitt with money for rent, a vehicle and six months of living expenses.

Johnny Bobbitt Jr. (left), Mark D'Amico, and Kate McClure at the CITGO station where Bobbitt spent his last $20 to buy gas for Kate.

ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Johnny Bobbitt Jr. (left), Mark D'Amico, and Kate McClure at the CITGO station where Bobbitt spent his last $20 to buy gas for Kate.

But donations poured in over the holiday season, and within nine months, all of the money was gone. After Bobbitt sued McClure and D’Amico in civil court in Mount Holly last summer and claimed he didn’t get his proper share of the money. That lawsuit caught the attention of the authorities.

After an investigation, the civil case was put on hold and the three were charged with conspiracy.

by Jan Hefler

Posted: April 15, 2019 - 3:59 PM

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