Johnny Bobbitt: Latest News

Bobbitt, seen here in a Burlington County courtroom back in 2020, was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to federal charges.  PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to three years of probation for his role in a GoFundMe scam that raised $400,000 using a fake, feel-good story. Johnny Bobbitt, 39, was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution after entering a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering in the case. Mark D’Amico and his then-girlfriend, Katelyn McClure, were accused of fabricating a story about Bobbitt, a homeless veteran, giving McClure his last $20 when she ran out of gas on a Philadelphia highway in 2017.  In truth, state and federal prosecutors said, the group had met near a Philadelphia casino in October 2017 shortly before they told their story.They publicized the story through local and national media interviews and created a GoFundMe account that more than 14,000 people donated to, thinking the money was to help Bobbitt, according to prosecutors.

A New Jersey woman has been sentenced to prison after a federal court found her guilty of cooking up a scam that took more than US$400,000 from GoFundMe donors.

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.