(Washington Insider Magazine) – The story that summoned the donation went viral in 2017, with the alleged objective of raising $ 10,000, through a campaign on the Gofundme portal, so that Johnny Bobbitt Jr. could stop living on the street and pay a rental and a car.
A Woman Was Sentenced to Three Years in a Prison
A woman in New Jersey was sentenced to three years in a prison for her role in a gofundme scam of $ 400,000 in which she and her then boyfriend lied about helping a homeless man in Philadelphia.
Katelyn McClure, 32, was not present at her judgment at Burlington County because she is already serving her one year’s federal sentence in the case in a Connecticut prison, according to the office of the prosecutor of the Murlington County.
His state sentence will be executed simultaneously and the former ex -worker of the New Jersey Department of Transportation will be permanently prohibited from working as a public employee in the State.
Electronic Fraud
In 2017, McClure and his then boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, declared conspiracy guilty to commit electronic fraud after they invented a moving but false story that claimed that a homeless veteran, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., had just spent his last $ 20 to help. McClure filled her gas tank while she was stranded in the I-95 in Philadelphia.
The couple launched a Gofundme campaign entitled “Paying It Forward”, which donors believed it was to get Bobbitt out of the streets and take it to a home.
The story quickly gained strength when McClure and D’Amico did interviews with local and national media. In less than a month, they had cheated more than 14,000 donors for $ 400,000.
False Story Told by Couple
The funds were transferred from Gofundme to the couple’s personal accounts. The two spent most of the money for the next three months on personal expenses.
The couple told Bobbitt about the false story they had invented and the money, of which he was not aware. In December 2017, officials say that D’Amico opened a bank account for Bobbitt and the two deposited $ 25,000 on the account.
D’Amico, 43, declared himself guilty in December 2019 and was sentenced to five years in a state prison, a term that also coincides with a previous federal term. Both he and McClure received the order to completely reimburse Gofundme.
This article is authored by La Opinion.
