CAMDEN, N.J. - A New Jersey man who conspired with his girlfriend to concoct a feelgood story about a helpful homeless man and then used the lie to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations online is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal court Friday.
Last fall, Mark D’Amico pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. An indictment unsealed in January 2020 charged D'Amico with a total of 16 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.D’Amico, his former girlfriend Katelyn McClure, and a homeless veteran named Johnny Bobbitt were accused of making up a story in 2017 about Bobbitt giving $20 to help McClure when her car ran out of gas in Philadelphia.D'Amico and McClure solicited donations through GoFundMe, purportedly to help Bobbitt, and conducted newspaper and television interviews.
Investigators said D'Amico was the plot's ringleader.The scam eventually raised more than $400,000 in donations in the space of a month, according to investigators, who said almost no part of the tale was true and that instead, the group met near a Philadelphia casino in October 2017 shortly before they told their story.RELATED COVERAGE:Authorities began investigating after Bobbitt sued the couple, accusing them of not giving him the money.
The federal criminal complaint alleged all of the money raised in the campaign was spent by March 2018, with large chunks spent by McClure and D’Amico on a recreational vehicle, a BMW, and trips to casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey.McClure and Bobbitt previously pleaded guilty to state and federal charges.