52°
The plea-bargained five-year term approved by a Superior Court judge in Mount Holly on Friday will run at the same time as the 27-month federal sentence that Mark D'Amico of Trenton received in April.
The difference is that there's no parole in the federal prison system, which keeps D'Amico in the medium-security United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA for more than two years before he'll be eligible for release.
Then it will be up to a state judge to determine how much of the remaining time on his New Jersey sentence that D'Amico must serve.
D'Amico, 43, formerly of Bordentown, avoided trial in both arenas by taking guilty pleas in each.
He admitted hatching the bogus feel-good yarn about a down-on-his-luck "hero" coming to the rescue of his then-girlfriend, Katelyn McClure, after she ran out of gas on Route 95 on her way home to New Jersey from Philadelphia.
Both McClure and the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., were in on the scheme, authorities said.
Together, D’Amico and McClure created a crowd-sourcing fundraising campaign on GoFundMe that they called "Paying It Forward.” The campaign set a $10,000 goal to help get Bobbitt off the streets and cover some of his initial living expenses.
The bogus tale of Bobbitt giving McClure his last 20 bucks was quickly picked up by local and national news outlets. There was even an appearance on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today" show.
The schemers gathered $400,000 in donations in less than a month.
SEE: NJ Man Admits Hatching $400,000 Homeless GoFundMe Scam
They then shifted the money from GoFundMe into accounts that they controlled, then spent most of it over three months for vacations, a BMW, a vacation, clothing, handbags and "other personal items and expenses," federal authorities said
McClure helped open an account for Bobbitt, who collected $25,000 for his participation, they said.
The scheme fell apart when Bobbitt turned around and sued the couple, demanding to know where the rest of the money went.
D’Amico and McClure, in turn, claimed that Bobbitt spent tens of thousands of dollars on drugs, legal bills and donations to his family in less than two weeks. They said they also bought him a camper.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and Florence Township police began poking around, obtaining search warrants to seize various pieces of evidence. It led to guilty pleas in state court by all three defendants.
Federal authorities brought their own charges.
McClure, 32, also of Bordentown, got a far lighter federal sentence two weeks ago -- a year and a day -- under the terms of her plea deal with the government.
Like D'Amico, she was ordered to fully reimburse GoFundMe.
SEE: NJ Woman Who Pulled $400,000 GoFundMe Scam With Homeless Vet, Ex-BF Gets Federal Prison Time
Bobbitt, like the other two, took a deal from federal prosecutors rather than risk trial. He entered a drug court program and is awaiting sentencing.
"People genuinely wanted to believe it was true," Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw said following McClure's sentencing. "But it was all a lie, and it was illegal."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park and receive free news updates.
