‘It was all a lie’: Man gets 5 years in homeless veteran GoFundMe scam that raised $402,000

A New Jersey man who admitted his role in a GoFundMe scam that netted more than $402,000 and garnered national attention has been sentenced to five years in state prison.

Mark D’Amico, 43, was also ordered to make full restitution to GoFundMe in connection to the scandal in which he and two co-defendants tricked people into donating money to a homeless veteran, according to a press release from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.

D’Amico, of Florence, New Jersey, was charged in late 2018 – along with his then-girlfriend, Katelyn McClure of Bordentown, and Johnny Bobbitt of Philadelphia – with crafting a story that misled donors into believing the money would go to help Bobbitt, a homeless veteran living in Philadelphia.

D’Amico pleaded guilty in December 2019 to misapplication of entrusted property, a second-degree felony, in connection to the more than $402,000 case.

At the time, the office reported, it was the largest fraud executed through the crowdfunding company. GoFundMe voluntarily reimbursed the donors, according to the release.

“People genuinely wanted to believe it was true,” Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said in the news release Friday. “But it was all a lie, and it was illegal. Our office is pleased to bring justice for the more than 14,000 kind-hearted people who thought they were helping someone who was living in a desperate situation.

Bobbitt pleaded guilty in March 2019 to conspiracy to commit theft by deception, also a second-degree felony, and was admitted into the New Jersey Judiciary’s Recovery Court program when sentenced in April 2019. The program allows those with addiction problems to seek treatment instead of being incarcerated.

Under rules of a plea agreement, if Bobbitt fails to adhere to treatment and recovery services, which includes frequent testing for drug use, he could be sentenced to five years in state prison.