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A couple who falsely claimed they were raising money for a homeless man were made to regret their actions when the law caught up with them.
Mark D’Amico and his girlfriend at the time, Katelyn McClure, launched a campaign to raise money for 39-year-old Johnny Bobbitt after they allegedly met him on a Philadelphia highway.
The couple claimed McClure had run out of gas while driving on the highway in 2017, and Bobbitt - an alleged 'veteran' - gave her his last $20 to help.
Supposedly in an attempt to repay Bobbitt, the couple set up a GoFundMe account with a goal of $10,000 and publicized the feel-good story through interviews with national press.
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The attention encouraged more than 14,000 people to donate to the cause, raising a total of $400,000.
However, after the fundraiser hit the big bucks, Bobbitt sued the couple and claimed they hadn't given him any of the money.
Law enforcement began investigating, with a federal criminal complaint claiming that the money had all been spent by March 2018.
According to the prosecutor's office, D’Amico and McClure are said to have spent large chunks of the cash on 'on casino gambling and personal items such as a BMW, a New Year’s trip to Las Vegas, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and Louis Vuitton handbags'.
However, it then emerged that D'Amico and McClure weren't the only ones involved in the scam, as state and federal prosecutors revealed Bobbitt also had a part to play.
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Prosecutors said the group had met near a Philadelphia casino in October 2017 shortly before they told their story.
Commenting on the scam, Burlington Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said: “People genuinely wanted to believe it was true. But it was all a lie, and it was illegal.
"Our office is pleased to bring justice for the more than 14,000 kind-hearted people who thought they were helping someone who was living in a desperate situation.”
After being caught, Bobbitt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to three years of probation, as well as being ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution.
He had previously been sentenced to five years’ probation on state charges in 2019.
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D'Amico pleaded guilty to federal charges and was sentenced to 27 months in prison. He was also ordered to make restitution.
McClure was sentenced to one year behind bars, and ordered to make restitution and serve three years' supervised release.
In January 2023 she was sentenced to another three years in prison after pleading guilty to one charge of theft by deception for her role, with her sentences set to take place concurrently.
Topics: Crime, Social Media, Money