Katelyn McClure, the Woman Involved in $400K GoFundMe Scam For Homeless Veteran, Sentenced to Prison

The New Jersey woman who helped make up a fake story about helping out a homeless veteran that was the catalyst for $400,000 in GoFundMe donations has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Katelyn McClure, 32, was also ordered to pay restitution and will have to serve three years of supervised release once she’s released from prison for her involvement in the 2018 scheme that began to unravel once she and her then-boyfriend were sued by the homeless man.

McClure’s sentencing is the end of a wild story that started when she shared a heartwarming story about the veteran, Johnny Bobbitt, who was down on his luck.

She and her then-boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, created a GoFundMe page to collect funds for the veteran who they claimed was stranger to them but handed over his last $20 to McClure after she ran out of gas in the middle of the night.

About 14,000 people contributed to the cause in the following weeks.

But evidently, the account was a hoax. The couple met Bobbitt about a month before McClure claimed he handed over his money, apparently, when he was panhandling near an underpass.

She fabricated the sad story to push donors to “pay it forward.”

The three then went on to enjoy the fruits of their scam, up until Bobbitt sued the couple over allegations that they were blowing the stash on luxury items, including a recreational vehicle, a BMW, and trips to casinos.

The veteran also claimed they only shared about $75,000 with him, the New York Post reported.

The boyfriend accepted a plea deal in 2019 that came with a five-year prison sentence. While Bobbitt had to go to a drug rehab program.

As for McClure, she pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception as part of the agreement in New Jersey Superior Court in 2019.

Everyone is scheduled for sentencing on separate state charges which could carry more jail time.