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Crime

New Jersey woman at center of $400,000 GoFundMe scam sentenced to one year in prison

Kate McClure, boyfriend stole funds allegedly intended for veteran.

July 22, 2022 12:33pm

Updated: July 23, 2022 9:46am

A woman will serve one year in prison after being found guilty in connection with boosting funds from a $400,000 GoFundMe campaign allegedly intended for a veteran. 

Kate McClure will serve her sentence in federal prison for the crime, in which she and her then-boyfriend made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars from the crowdfunding website. 

McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico originally launched the GoFundMe in 2017 after claiming that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt had given her his last $20 for gas in Philadelphia one winter night. 

The campaign was originally set to earn $10,000 but went viral and netted nearly half a million dollars in donations. 

McClure and D'Amico would go on to spend the lion's share of those donations on themselves, only giving Bobbitt a small portion of the earnings. The scam unraveled when Bobbitt complained to lawyers of his lack of compensation. 

D'Amico has already been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison, while Bobbitt is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty three years ago.