What are the charges against Katelyn McClure? New Jersey woman gets three years in prison over GoFundMe scam

On Friday, a New Jersey woman, who was later identified as Katelyn McClure, was sentenced to three years in state prison after being found guilty of involvement in a huge GoFundMe scam. She is presently in a Connecticut prison serving a one-year federal term in the same case.

According to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, McClure's state sentence will run concurrently. Furthermore, the 32-year-old, a former New Jersey Department of Transportation worker, will be permanently banned from working as a public employee in the state.

In 2017, Katelyn McClure, along with her then-boyfriend Mark D’Amico, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after they were caught scamming over 14,000 donors out of $400,000 in the name of helping a homeless veteran in Philadelphia.

The money collected through the fundraiser was mostly spent on personal expenses and never reached the veteran, Johnny Bobbitt Jr. In December 2019, Mark D'Amico pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in state prison. Both Katelyn McClure and Mark D'Amico have been ordered to reimburse GoFundMe.

Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw said in a statement:

"Our wish is that prosecutions like this will serve to deter criminals from such deceitful actions, but not discourage individuals from caring about those who are in crisis as a result of a tragedy, or simply need a helping hand after experiencing a hardship or setback."

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Donors were made to believe that their donations would help Johnny Bobbitt Jr. buy a new home

In 2017, a 32-year-old former New Jersey Department of Transportation worker and her then-boyfriend created a fake humanitarian story about a homeless veteran who had lent his last $20 to McClure to help fill up her gas tank while she was stranded on I-95 in Philadelphia.

The GoFundMe fundraiser, which was titled “Paying it Forward,” made donors believe that the donations would be used to get Johnny Bobbitt Jr. a new home. The veteran in question, however, remained out of the loop for a long time.

The fundraiser and the story behind it immediately gained traction with the media and the pair were interviewed multiple times. In less than a month, Katelyn McClure and her partner raised a massive amount of $400,000, none of which reached the homeless veteran.

According to authorities, the money from the donations was directly transferred to personal bank accounts, and in less than three months, the pair had used up most of the donated money for personal expenses that had nothing to do with Johnny Bobbitt Jr.

It was only in December 2017 that the man at the center of the whole story was informed of the scheme. Law enforcement officers reported that D’Amico later opened a bank account for Bobbitt and less than $100,000 was deposited into the account by D'Amico and Katelyn McClure.

Investigations started when Bobbitt Jr. sued the pair for not giving him a fair share of the whole amount.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said the donations were used by Katelyn McClure and her partner to fund a BMW, casino gambling, a New Year's trip to Las Vegas, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, and Louis Vuitton handbags, and were spent by March 2018.

Bobbitt Jr. later pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. He was admitted into the New Jersey Recovery Court program and risks a prison sentence if he breaks the terms of the program.