A Bordentown woman was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for her alleged role in a GoFundMe scam that garnered nationwide attention, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Katelyn McClure, 32, of Bordentown, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman imposed the sentence in Camden federal court on July 21, according to a press release through the office of the U.S. Attorney District of New Jersey.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In Nov. 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 and went viral and raised approximately $400,000 from more than 14,000 donors in less than three weeks.
The donated funds were transferred by D’Amico and McClure 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, according to the press release.
Sellinger credited assistant prosecutors and detectives of the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Lachia L. Bradshaw; officers of the Florence Township Police Department; special agents of IRS (Internal Revenue Service) -Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins; and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, with the investigation leading to McClure’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the Criminal Division in Camden.