Casino Spree With GoFundMe Money Sees Man Enter Guilty Plea To Feds

A New Jersey adult male has admitted his constituent in a fake GoFundMe crusade that raised to a greater extent than $400,000, ostensibly to facilitate a kind-hearted homeless person veteran. But the money was frittered away on opulence items and cassino trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic Ocean City past Saint Mark D’Amico and his then-girlfriend, Katelyn McClure.

D’Amico, 42, McClure, and stateless piece Johnny Bobbitt Jr. are accused of inventing a feel-good story that was featured on the crowdfunding political program rearward inwards 2017.

D’Amico and McClure claimed Bobbitt had presumption McClure his only $20 to assist her when her gondola ran out of gas.

But text messages later uncovered by police force demo they met Bobbitt for the first of all clip out of doors the Sugarhouse Casino in City of Brotherly Love and the Good Samaritan story was a hoax.

Plan Goes Pear-Shaped

D’Amico and McClure make claimed they initially had sound intentions. They decided to launch a crowdfunding cause to aid Bobbitt, which they embellished to growth the impact. They originally hoped to rear just now $10,000.

But the safari went viral. The triplet was featured in newsprint articles and appeared on national TV. There was regular verbalize of a book and a movie deal. The effort raised over $400,000 inward the infinite of just now unity month.

According to homage documents, the duo gave Bobbitt $25,000 and bought him a motor home van, in which he lived for some clip inwards their garden. But they kept the reside and rapidly set about squandering it.

The story unraveled inward 2018 when Bobbitt, who was at one time again homeless, sued his supposed benefactors, seeking an enjoinment and pecuniary relief. When a New island of Jersey Superior Margaret Court judge gave the brace decade days to come in the money in an escrow account, it eventually emerged that in that respect was nil left.

Following an investigating into the missing money, all triad were arrested inward November 2018 and supercharged with federal cabal offenses.

Alleged Ringleader

D’Amico, who is alleged to follow the ringleader behind the scheme, was ab initio charged with conspiracy, conducting wire fraud, and money laundering. He pleaded hangdog on Mon to unity look of confederacy to institutionalize conducting wire fraud. He has already pleaded shamefaced inward a commonwealth court, which sentenced him to five years in prison.

McClure and Bobbitt have got pleaded guilty to country and federal charges and await sentencing on the latter.

McClure was sentenced to Little Joe years in prison house past a state royal court in 2019 on charges of theft past deception, spell Bobbitt received quintet years’ probation.

All threesome could face betwixt Phoebe and ten years on the to a greater extent serious federal charges.