April 12 (UPI) -- A New Jersey judge sentenced a homeless veteran to probation Friday for helping two people with a crowd-funding scheme that netted more than $400,000.
Johnny Bobbitt Jr. was given five years of probation for the GoFundMe scam.
Burlington County, N.J. Superior Court Judge Christopher Garrenger said the probation is administered by the drug court, a judicially supervised court docket handling cases of non-violent substance-abusing offenders. Bobbitt was also ordered to enroll in a drug rehabilitation program and cooperate with prosecutors in the trials of his co-defendants.
Bobbitt said he helped defendants Katelyn McClure and Mark D'Amico fabricate a hard luck story that resulted in donations that totaled $402,706.
Prosecutors said D'Amico and McClure spent the money on vacations, a BMW and other luxury goods. They said Bobbitt's share was $25,000, some of which he spent on drugs. Unspent money was to be given back to the donors.
Bobbitt pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and federal money laundering, the latter for which he hasn't yet been sentenced. McClure and Bobbitt pleaded guilty to federal charges and await sentencing. D'Amico, McClure's boyfriend at the time, was charged with her last fall by state prosecutors but have yet to be indicted. D'Amico has denied the charges.
The judge warned Bobbitt Friday he would go to prison if he didn't comply with the drug rehabilitation program.
