A Burlington County woman was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for her role in a GoFundMe scam that gained nationwide attention, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
According to U.S. Attorney Sellinger, Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In November 2017, McClure and Mark D’Amico, 43, allegedly created a crowd-source funding page on GoFundMe’s website titled “Paying It Forward.”
The campaign solicited donations from the public purportedly for the benefit of a homeless veteran, Johnny Bobbitt, 39, of Philadelphia.
McClure and D’Amico posted a story that McClure was driving home from Philadelphia on Interstate 95 and ran out of gas. Bobbitt acted as a “good Samaritan” and rescued McClure by using his last $20 to buy gasoline for her.
The website stated that funds were being solicited to get Bobbitt off the streets and provide him with living expenses, setting a goal of $10,000.
In reality, McClure never ran out of gas, and Bobbitt never spent his last $20 for her. D’Amico and McClure allegedly conspired to create the false story to obtain money from donors.
The story was quickly picked up by local and national media outlets, went viral and raised approximately $400,000 from more than 14,000 donors in less than three weeks.
D’Amico and McClure transferred the donated funds from GoFundMe into accounts that they controlled.
The majority of the money allegedly was quickly spent by D’Amico and McClure on personal expenses over the next three months.
In mid-November of 2017, when the donations had reached approximately $1,500, D’Amico and McClure told Bobbitt about the campaign and the false gas story.
In December of 2017, after setting up a bank account for Bobbitt, D’Amico and McClure deposited $25,000 of proceeds of the scheme into Bobbitt’s account.
In addition to the prison term, McClure was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $400,000 in restitution.
D’Amico previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced in April 2022 to 27 months in prison; Bobbitt pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.