August 06, 2022
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Mark D'Amico was sentenced to five years in state prison on Friday for his role in a fraudulent GoFundMe scheme that raised more than $400,000 with a false story about a homeless veteran's act of kindness.
A South Jersey man involved in a fraudulent crowdfunding scheme that raised more than $400,000 with a false story about a homeless veteran's act of kindness was sentenced to five years in state prison on Friday.
This came after Mark D'Amico, 43, of Florence, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for the same scheme in April. He will serve those sentences concurrently.
He pleaded guilty to second degree misapplication of entrusted property last year.
“People genuinely wanted to believe it was true,” Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw said in a release. “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.”
D'Amico's ex-girlfriend Kate McClure, 32, of Bordentown, was sentenced to one year in federal prison last month for her role in the scam.
She will be formally sentenced by the state on Sept. 9, WHYY reports. She pleaded guilty to second degree theft by deception in exchange for a four year sentence.
Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless man, also pleaded guilty in 2019 and was sentenced to five years of probation for the state charges. He is currently in an addiction recovery program as an alternative to incarceration. He'll be sentenced in federal court later this month
In 2017, the trio made up a story about Bobbitt giving McClure $20 when her car ran out of gas in Philadelphia.
D'Amico and McClure collected $400,000 in donations through GoFundMe, purportedly to help Bobbitt.
But the story was almost completely fabricated. McClure never ran out of gas and Bobbitt never spent his last $20 on her. The couple met the homeless veteran near a casino in Philadelphia in October 2017, authorities said.
They began investigating after Bobbitt accused the couple of not giving him the money, which was all spent by March 2018 on vehicles, casino trips and more.
The scam was the subject of a documentary produced by 6ABC's investigative team which premiered on Hulu last year.
