A woman who participated in a scam that took $400,000 from 14,000 GoFundMe backers was sentenced Friday to three years in prison (along with her one-year federal sentence), according to Associated Press.
The Burlington County Attorney’s Office.
The woman, Kate McClure, was part of a three-person scam team led by McClure and her then-boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who fabricated a story in 2017 about raising money to support a homeless veteran.
In a GoFundMe, McClure claimed a veteran who had no housing used his last $20 to buy her a jerry can of gas after she ran out of fuel while driving on the freeway to Philadelphia, by The Republic of Arizona.
Multiple outlets covered the viral feel-good story and the group went on national television shows like Good morning America.
As he raised money, McClure had said the money was for the veteran to buy a house and car, a financial attorney and advisor to assist him, and a retirement and trust fund, according to the Republic.
But it all started to fall apart in 2018, when veteran and intended recipient of the money, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., said in the press that the couple had not given him the money and sued the couple for the money, saying in the lawsuit that he only received $75,000.
After his legal move, authorities began investigating the matter, according to the AP.
It turned out that McClure and D’Amico had met Bobbitt while he was asking for money outside a casino they frequented, then Burlington County, New Jersey Attorney Scott Coffina said in 2018: per NJ.com. They then made a plan to help Bobbitt – and themselves – by posting a fake GoFundMe story and splitting the money.
“The gas part is completely made up, but the guy isn’t… I had to make something up so people will feel bad,” McClure wrote in a text message to D’Amico, judged by federal prosecutors, per The New York Times.
McClure and D’Amico ended up using the money for a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon, a BMW and designer bags, federal authorities said later, per The New York Times.
However, had Bobbitt not spoken out and sued the pair, it was unlikely the trio would have been caught. Coffin noted in 2018.
After charges against the group were announced in 2018, GoFundMe refunded backers. It also has said it would help Bobbitt somehow receives money, but it’s unclear if that happened.
GoFundMe told ukbusinessupdates.com via email that it has “zero tolerance for misuse of our platform.”
“We cooperated fully with law enforcement to ensure that these individuals were held accountable for their crimes and that all donors were reimbursed,” the company added.
McClure faced federal and state charges and pleaded guilty to both in 2019. Authorities said the conspiracy would be the largest in GoFundMe history at the time, according to the AP.
Bobbitt was an unhoused veteran who had served short in the United States Marine Corps. He was first accepted into a substance recovery program that includes extensive drug testing and was sentenced to three years of probation in New Jersey in early October for his role in the scam. per NJ.com.
D’Amico was sentenced in August to five years in prison, in addition to his 27-month federal sentence. according to CBS News.
