NEW JERSEY
Johnny Bobbitt Jr., the homeless man who admitted helping a New Jersey couple run a GoFundMe scam that pulled in more than $400,000, was sentenced to 5-years probation on Friday. Bobbitt Jr. won’t go free just yet. Last month he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in federal court. He has not yet been sentenced in the fed case.
NBC News (@NBCnews) reported, Bobbitt’s guilty plea stems from a plan concocted by a New Jersey couple back in 2017. In November of that year, Kate McClure and her then boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, created a GoFundMe account they said would help a homeless man, after he allegedly gave McClure the last $20 he had so she could get gas, after her car had allegedly broken down on the highway and left her stranded. Prosecutors say that was when the couple recruited Bobbitt, who actually was homeless at the time, to play the homeless hero who gave McClure the last $20 he had to his name, so she could make it home safely. The story of generosity tugged at the heartstrings of the general public. In just a couple of weeks the GoFundMe campaign had raised over $400,000. Things were all good until Bobbitt decided to file a lawsuit against the couple claiming that he’d never received any of the money, and that the couple were using the funds as their personal piggy bank to finance a life of luxury and luxurious trips around the world. The couple didn’t take the claims lying down. They made some claims of their own. Saying Bobbitt was a strung out drug addict who’d basically smoked/shot up all of the money they gave him. They claimed to be holding the rest of the money for him until he cleaned himself up. Because the feud and the case was so highly publicized, the law decided to take a peek at the case. That’s when the couple’s scam was discovered.
McClure got hit with a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge by the feds. She pleaded guilty and is currently staring down the barrel of a 20-year prison bid when she goes back for sentencing. She’s also allegedly about to get hit by the state with a theft and conspiracy charge. Those charges have not officially been filed yet though. D’Amico made out a little better than his ex-girlfriend. He escaped a fed charge. The feds decided not to charge him. But he does have a theft and conspiracy charge in the state pending. D’Amico has not pleaded guilty to the charges. As of now, he’s going to fight it. He has publicly denied any wrongdoing from the start.
NAYZE MEDIA 