A New Jersey woman who pleaded guilty to helping her boyfriend spread a feel-good story that garnered more than $400,000 in online donations has been sentenced on state theft charges.
, of Florence, came up with the good Samaritan story in November 2017, claiming that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr., of Philadelphia, had given his last $20 to McClure when her car ran out of gas on an interstate exit ramp in Philadelphia.
The three conducted newspaper and television interviews and solicited donations, ostensibly to help Bobbitt, through a GoFundMe campaign they named "Paying It Forward," prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the campaign raised more than $400,000 from about 14,000 donors in about a month and at the time was the largest fraud perpetrated through the crowdfunding platform.
FILE - Johnny Bobbitt stands in the courtroom during his sentencing hearing at Burlington County Superior Court in Mount Holly, N.J., on April 12, 2019. Bobbitt, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with a New Jersey couple on a bogus feel-good story ofAuthorities began investigating after Bobbitt sued the couple, accusing them of not giving him the money.
D’Amico, 43, pleaded guilty in December 2019 and was sentenced to five years in state prison, a term also running concurrently with an earlier federal term. He and McClure have both been ordered to fully reimburse GoFundMe. Bobbitt was sentenced to probationary federal and state terms.
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