3 shitty people bilked empathetic donors after they concocted a “feel good” story to make money. But there is no honor (or brains) among thieves. The “homeless” guy sued because he didn’t get any slice of the ill-gotten pie.
Her Fake Feel-Good Story Just Went Even More South.
Katelyn McClure gets 3 more years in jail in case involving fake $400K fundraiser for homeless man.
A New Jersey woman who pleaded guilty to helping her boyfriend spread a feel-good story about a homeless veteran that garnered more than $400,000 in online donations has been sentenced to three years in prison on state theft charges. Burlington County prosecutors say Katelyn McClure, 32, wasn’t present in the Mount Holly courtroom on Friday because she’s serving a one-year federal term in the case, per the AP. Her state prison term will run concurrently, and the former transportation department worker will be barred from ever working again as a New Jersey public employee.
Prosecutors said McClure and her then-boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, came up with the Good Samaritan story in November 2017, claiming that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr. had given his last $20 to McClure when her car ran out of gas on an interstate exit ramp in Philadelphia. The three conducted newspaper and TV interviews and solicited donations, ostensibly to help Bobbitt, through a GoFundMe campaign they named “Paying It Forward,” prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the campaign raised more than $400,000 from about 14,000 donors in about a month and at the time was the largest fraud perpetrated through the crowdfunding platform.
Authorities began investigating after Bobbitt sued the couple, accusing them of not giving him the money. They eventually determined that all of the money was spent by March 2018, with large chunks spent by McClure and D’Amico on a recreational vehicle, a BMW, and trips to casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey.
What BitCoins were designed for.
Class Dismissed
Not speaking about this case specifically but I never understood why “restitution” is only meted out in white color crimes like Elizabeth Holmes, Bernie Madoff, or Sam Bankman Fried but never used for the run of the whole shitbag thief?
Jailing people like this serves no useful purpose, the state has to feed them and provide healthcare. Why not slap them with a court-ordered judgment? You stole $400 grand, that is what you owe, we will garner your wages in whatever job you hold in perpetuity until this judgment is paid off, then send them on their way.
Forget jail, it is so misapplied to be effective anyway, every thief must pay back the value of that which was stolen to the victim. Create a “Thief Restitution Database”, this is a government program I could get behind.
Well, if they steal 400k and the only punishment is to give back the 400k, you’re incentivizing the risk and the crimes.
And what do you do with people who have absolutely no way of paying back if the money is gone? and what if paying back the money means they go on the dole. Now you are feeding and housing them, something you wanted to avoid.
How the hell did the Democrats miss out on running that one for elected office?
“you’re incentivizing the risk and the crimes.”
That would be true if you remove the threat of restitution. Theft is one of those crimes that is never punished commensurate with the act. Petty theft is never punished even though it can ruin a mom and pop grocery store. A career car thief gets what, 6 months in jail if that? Hardly befitting of the crime. If restitution became the norm, that Sword of Damocles over the head of the common thief, this would prove much more onerous than some bullshit jail sentence which they probably won’t serve anyway due to lack of space.
And for those that don’t work, well, we had workhouses and chain gains in the past. These prisoners can create something or perform a service that could translate into a wage that could be used to pay back their debt.
Yeah, maybe a crazy idea, but I have a visceral hatred for thieves or any variety and great empathy for victims of theft that were genuinely harmed, a balance needs to be struck.
Here’s a way to provide at least partial restitution, eliminate any indefinite term of taxpayer burden, heck, eliminate ANY taxpayer burden, and absolutely remove any chance of recidivism: auction the convicts off to organ transplant hospitals, especially including those in China, Indian, and the Philippines.
BFH January 7, 2023 at 4:28 pm
“Well, if they steal 400k and the only punishment is to give back the 400k, you’re incentivizing the risk and the crimes.
And what do you do with people who have absolutely no way of paying back if the money is gone? and what if paying back the money means they go on the dole. Now you are feeding and housing them, something you wanted to avoid.”
SIMPLE!
TARGET PRACTICE! Via utilizing 13-year olds with BB-Guns, until paid back in full (including room-and-board jail costs, costs of contacting relatives, peanut butter and jelly samiches, and BB’s).
@pianamusic — I like that idea!
Somebody: “Hey! You could put his eye out that way!”
YrsTruly: “True. So let him buy some safety goggles.”
Yep! Add that to the list!
Dang! They blew through $400 large in less than 4 months! They bought more than a rec vehicle and a BMW. My guess is most of it was gambled away, trying to hit it big enough to cover their crimes. It would have been interesting what stories they were concocting on the way back from Vegas.
She reminds me of that blonde in the EU government who just got caught on the take.
https: //www. economist.com /europe/2022/12/15/a-corruption-scandal-leaves-the-eu-reeling
You just can’t find an honest crook these days.
we seem to be talking about the appropriate punishment. Who administers that punishment is important too. Not necessarily for this particular case, but generally speaking.
there is no longer any real, equal, justice
there will never be restitution of the ftx money given to politicians. Don’t kid yourself.
does anyone believe mccarthy will have open and honest investigations of ftx, the who and/or the wef? He is in charge of what gets heard in committees, and he also put money in his own pocket that was given to him by those who are to be investigated.
I find it more believable that, not only does he put crook’s money in his pocket, but the crooks likely gave him the pocket to begin with.
It’s a victimless crime. The two plotters are the politicians, the good hearted dopes who hocked up the donations are… well duh… and the bum is the MacGuffin as in life. The bum needs, the politicians publicize, the dopes donate and the politicians run off with the loot. Ta daa! Where, really, is the crime? The dopes are dopes, if God wanted them otherwise he’d have made them otherwise. Thieves are thieves, lots of techniques on display, and bums, the good Lord said, ‘will always be with us’.
Canada has a new solution they are trying out. Although it is only a one time shot for the person, the results are permanent.