The GoFundMe 'homeless man scam' in America took the world by storm. Now there's a major update.

In November 2017, there wasn't an ounce of a doubt that New Jersey couple Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico were good people.

Creating a GoFundMe campaign at the time to help a homeless veteran, McClure shared the touching and inspiring actions of John Bobbitt, who came to her need after she had ran out of fuel while travelling along the highway in Philadelphia. 

Now the trio of scam artists have faced the criminal justice system for theft by deception, and conspiracy to commit theft by deception. 

And this week, one of them was sentenced to three years in jail.

Watch the trailer for No Good Deed: A Crowdfunding Holiday Heist. Story continues below.

As the story goes, Bobbitt used his last $20 to buy McClure a can of petrol to ensure she would get home safe. McClure then wanted to simply 'pay it forward,' and asked the public for help.

And they did, to the tune of $400,000 USD ($545,600 AUD).

Rallying behind the cause, McClure's GoFundMe went viral, with her, D'Amico and Bobbitt securing interviews on countless radio stations, as well as national programs like Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

"I believe that with a place to be able to clean up every night and get a good night's rest, his life can get back to being normal," she wrote on the campaign page.

"Please help this man get into a home."

Keeping their sponsors up to date on her personal Twitter page and the original GoFundMe account, McClure said Bobbitt was able to buy a house with the funds, had received a job offer from Amazon, and was in the process of successfully battling his heroin addiction. 

Johnny has a message for everyone: pic.twitter.com/77yYTo8F1X

— Kate McClure (@getjohnnyahome) November 30, 2017

McClure and D'Amico were also in the process of securing a book deal, the amount of which they were hoping would surpass the GoFundMe amount raised.

Then, a swift 10 months later, the GoFundMe campaign was outed by Bobbitt as a scam. He claimed the couple only shared with him $102,300 AUD of the original funds and spent the rest themselves. They bought a luxury 2015 BMW, designer shoes, sunglasses and handbags, a New Year's holiday to Las Vegas and a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon.

Bobbitt was again homeless, but the public continued to rally behind him, with a pro-bono legal team filing a lawsuit against McClure and D'Amico on his behalf.

However, the story was only just beginning to unravel.

Johnny holding the article in the paper today about him and the people willing to help!! https://t.co/jLSNrNuYcy pic.twitter.com/MryoaUrGmD

— Kate McClure (@getjohnnyahome) November 16, 2017

As reported by the New York Post, the 'pay it forward campaign' was a scam from the start – not one against Bobbitt, but with him complicit in the crime.

According to Burlington County, New Jersey, prosecutor Scott Coffina said "the entire campaign was predicated on a lie".

The story of McClure running out of gas never happened, with the couple reportedly meeting Bobbitt by an underpass during one of their frequent trips to Philadelphia's SugarHouse Casino. In a series of text records seized from McCure's phone, a distinctively different story of events unfolds:

"The gas part is completely made up… but the guy isn't," she texted to an unnamed friend shortly after launching the GoFundMe campaign. "I had to make something up to make people feel bad… So, shush about the made-up part."

Authorities also realised Bobbitt had previously shared a Facebook post similar to the story McClure used for their GoFundMe page. In October of 2012, Bobbitt claimed he used the "only cash he had for supper" helping a girl who was blocking traffic after she got a flat tyre and "run out of gas" in front of Walmart. Back in November 2017, McClure used this as an example of Bobbitt's selflessness, however, it now raises suspicions as to whether his earlier story served as the inspiration for the crime.

Johnny has always been a good person!! This definitely was not me he helped that day. I’ve never been to Henderson nc ???????? pic.twitter.com/nMeNmVfH87

— Kate McClure (@getjohnnyahome) November 24, 2017

"I don't think that's a coincidence," Coffina told the New York Post.

In November 2018, McClure and D'Amico were taken into custody while Bobbitt was arrested in Philadelphia and awaited extradition to New Jersey where he would face trial. 

Speaking through her lawyers at the time, McClure told the public that she was "set up" by D'Amico and Bobbitt and has since separated from her partner, as reported by the New York Post.

In December 2019, D'Amico pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in state prison, a term also running concurrently with an earlier federal term. 

Kate McClure sentenced to New Jersey prison for role in GoFundMe scam about helping homeless vet Johnny Bobbitt https://t.co/fDu67FMPsX

— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) January 7, 2023

And this week, McClure was sentenced to three years in a state prison. She is currently serving a one-year federal term in the case, and her state prison term will run concurrently.

Although Bobbit was involved in the scheme, he did not benefit from it as greatly as D'Amico and McClure, and so his sentence was lesser. A federal judge sentenced Bobbitt to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $25,000 in restitution.

D'Amico and McClure have also been ordered to pay back the full amount to their victims, which will be a tall task considering they rapidly spent all the donated money.

A documentary has also since been made covering the case, called No Good Deed: A Crowdfunding Holiday Heist.

This article was originally published on November 11, 2018, and was updated on January 8, 2023, with new information.

Feature Image: GoFundMe.

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