The homeless veteran who has admitted conspiring with a New Jersey couple in a $400,000 GoFundMe scam was sentenced to five years’ probation as part of a plea deal with prosecutors on Friday.
Burlington County Judge Christopher Garrenger ordered that Johnny Bobbitt, 36, be placed in an in-patient drug program and be required to testify against his alleged co-conspirators.
Bobbitt pleaded guilty in state court last month to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
“This is an opportunity that you should take advantage of,” Garrenger told Bobbitt of the no-jail-time sentence. “If there is a violation of terms and conditions, you’re facing terms of imprisonment.”
Bobbitt, donning an orange jumpsuit, declined to comment in court on the matter when asked by the judge, telling him, “No, sir.”
Mark D’Amico and then-girlfriend Kate McClure, along with Bobbitt, first made headlines in 2017 when McClure claimed online that her car ran out of gas on the side of a road in Philadelphia and Bobbitt gave her his last $20 to fuel up.
McClure, 28, and D’Amico, 39, had said they were so touched by the gesture that they created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the homeless man.
More than 14,000 big-hearted donors opened their wallets, raising Bobbitt $400,000.
The story took a bizarre turn when Bobbitt sued the pair, saying that he only received a fraction of the money.
Investigators then looked into the case, prompting authorities to arrest all three of them in November on charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
“The entire campaign was predicated on a lie,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said at the time when he announced the charges. “It was fictitious and illegal and there are consequences.”
Prosecutor Andrew McDonnell said Bobbitt has “a raging lifelong drug addiction,” and the drug court sentence is an “opportunity” for Bobbitt and “not an absolution for his criminal behavior.”
“This did not have to happen,” McDonnell said. “This was a horrendous event and is deplorable behavior on the part of Mr. Bobbitt, Mr. D’Amico and Ms. McClure.”
Bobbitt’s lawyer John Kessler said his client “has taken responsibility for this.”
Following the sentencing, Coffina issued a statement saying Bobbitt was an “instrumental” part of the scam who “admittedly promoted and perpetuated the false narrative that he had given his last $20 to his co-conspirator Kate McClure when she had run out of gas on the side of the highway, with the intent to manipulate the goodwill of others to obtain money for himself.”
“That said, there is no denying that Johnny Bobbitt has struggled with addiction, and that his addiction was a factor in his criminal conduct…This sentence affords him the chance to turn his life around,” Coffina said.
As part of the plea deal, Bobbitt has agreed to pay restitution, but the amount has yet to be determined.
“There is a restitution figure of $402,706 representing charitable contributions from 14,347 donors,” Garrenger said, adding, “Mr. Bobbitt will compensate the victims for his conduct.”
McDonnell said that though Bobbitt has agreed to pay, he is “entitled to very little weight given his present ability to pay.”
A restitution hearing has been set for Nov. 15 of this year.
Bobbitt also pleaded guilty last month in federal court to charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and could face up to 10 years in prison.
McClure has pleaded guilty to one federal count of conspiracy to commit fraud.
A sentencing date has not yet been set for either Bobbitt or McClure on those federal charges.
There are no federal charges against D’Amico.