Johnny Bobbitt, Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico are scammed for ten years in prison

But the truth is more irritating than warming.

The hero, the woman he "rescued" and his boyfriend were a trio of scammers who had known each other for a month before the so-called chance meeting – and the US $ 400,000 ($ 550,000) ) that they collected on GoFundMe exploded in luxury items and game trips including a lavish New Year's trip to Las Vegas, officials said, according to the New York Post.

"The whole campaign was based on a lie," said prosecutor Scott Coffina of Burlington County, New Jersey, announcing criminal charges against Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure and vagrant Johnny Bobbitt.

"[McClure] did not run out of gas on an I-95 exit ramp, and [Bobbitt] "He has not spent his last 20 dollars helping him," said Coffina. "D'Amico, McClure and Bobbitt instead conspired to make and promote a story of well-being that would force donors to contribute to their cause."

The couple had already known Bobbitt for at least a month before the "Paying it Forward" campaign was launched on November 10, 2017, spotting him through the maneuvers of an underpbad during their frequent gambling raids at Philadelphia's SugarHouse Casino.

Their first interactions have even begun with the same kindness that they later projected on their fictional GoFundMe campaign, the couple having seen Bobbitt $ 10 here, a hot cup of coffee, officials said.

"The whole campaign was based on a lie"

"[I don’t know] why but this homeless guy by sugarhouse [sic] I do not stop taking my head today, "said a text message to his boyfriend on October 16.

"Dude, I just thought of him !!" D'Amico, 39, said the conversation revolved around ways to help the 35-year old Marine: food, clothing, Nintendo switch, even work and home.

Less than a month later, it is Bobbitt who is supposed to have come to the rescue of McClure when his car came out of the same exit ramp, this one by the off-ramp on Avenue Girard, where the trio had met for the first time.

McClure's tank was completely dry on a sorry portion of the I-95, forcing her to go to the nearest gas station in the dark – that's at least what tells the story published on the GoFundMe page.

"I had never missed gasoline before and my heart was beating wildly. I parked as far as I could and got out of the car to get to the nearest petrol station, "she wrote.

"It's when I met Johnny. … he told me to get back in the car and lock the doors. A few minutes later, he comes back with a red can (gasoline). By using his last 20 dollars to make sure I can go home safely. "

In fact, it took less than an hour after the campaign began for McClure to tell his skeptical best friend that the story too good to be true was exactly that.

"The party (essence) is completely prepared … but the guy is not," she said, sending a text message to the friend, which officials have not identified by name. "I had to invent something to make people feel bad … So, hush for the invented part."

The touching narrative of the trio gave them sensations overnight, as they embarked on a media blitz that saw the story told. Hello America and The Ellen Showand in outlets around the world.

Bobbitt was beaten to give up his drug addiction, bought a house and received a job offer from Amazon, while the couple negotiated a book sales contract.

But backstage, McClure felt the heat, even being made guilty by his own mother for trickery.

"My mother just called me to tell me that people are going to jail for having swindled other people with money. So, that's it, "she texted her friend," that's what my own mother thinks of me. "

Meanwhile, Bobbitt's relationship with the couple was tense, which would have preserved most of the US $ 367,108.81 received after GoFundMe took its share of the processing fee.

Bobbitt claimed to have received only about $ 75,000, while McClure and D'Amico exploded, ranging from a 2015 BMW to designer shoes and sunglbades, to the New Year's trip to Las Vegas and a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon.

The financial records revealed to investigators have been removed by the couple in or near Vegas casinos in Atlantic City via Atlantic City.

"You really have to get rid of [Bobbitt] and rebadure the public by making a donation, "a McClure friend warned in March. "He could take you out."

McClure replied, "I will keep the rest of the money, f ** k a lot."

But even if McClure was willing to follow his friend's advice, it was too late.

"I can not believe that we have less than 10 km left," she sent a text message to D'Amico earlier this month. "I am so angry."

D'Amico ignored the concerns of his girlfriend, confident that payment for the sale of books he was buying would eclipse the payment of GoFundMe.

Bobbitt was not so calm; in August, he eventually broke down, taking McClure and D'Amico to court, claiming they would have lost the benefit of his so-called good deed.

The couple retorted that he was defending Bobbitt for his good, because he used this money to feed his habit of resurfaced heroin.

"Giving him all this money will never happen," D'Amico told Philly.com at the time. "I'm going to burn him in front of him."

In private, D'Amico still clung to his hopes of signing a book sales contract, and even suspending the title by throwing Bobbitt under the bus: No good action.

But it's his greed and McClure's that have probably condemned the scam, officials said.

Had Bobbitt been entitled to a larger reduction and not sued the couple, which would have caused the investigators to monitor him closely, "there is a good chance" that the project was never discovered. said Mr. Coffina.

Still believing that Bobbitt was the victim, the investigators raided the couple's home in September and also seized a treasure trove of electronic records, including bank statements and more than 60,000 text messages.

D'Amico and McClure bickered for the swindle that collapsed before their eyes.

"Twenty thousand [dollars], BMW. Five thousand, Disney [World and Land trips]. Ten thousand in bags. We both went to Vegas, right? "Writes D'Amico. "As if you acted as if you had not spent a dollar."

The next day, McClure wrote, "I hope you have never updated the GoFundMe software. As if we just had to give up and the king did not keep people informed. "

As the story unfolded, the authorities also explored Bobbitt's past and discovered that in 2012, he was telling an almost identical story on Twitter while living in North Carolina.

"So this girl runs out of fuel and has a flat tire at the same time in front of Wal-Mart and blocks traffic," he wrote. "So I went to the gas station and changed my tire. I spent the only money I had for supper, but at least she can get her children home safely.

The officials could not say whether this good action had actually taken place and had simply inspired the story of 2017 or was a preliminary test of manufacture.

In both cases, "I do not think it's a coincidence," said Coffina.

Bobbitt "deserves our gratitude for his willingness to serve our country as a United States Navy and he has our sympathy and concern for the homelessness of which he was a victim, as well as for his mediatized fight against drug addiction", added Coffina.

"But it's imperative to keep in mind that he was completely complicit in the scheme to defraud contributors."

McClure and D'Amico were arrested Wednesday, were arrested and released, while Bobbitt was arrested in Philadelphia and awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

All three face charges of cheating and conspiracy to commit deceitful robbery punishable by five to ten years in prison.

A lawyer representing the couple declined to comment and there was no response to their home in Florence, New Jersey.

Several calls to a lawyer representing Bobbitt went unanswered.

On the money side, the investigators are still trying to count every penny, but Coffina said it was still "zero".

GoFundMe said in a statement that all those who donated to help Bobbitt would be fully reimbursed in the coming days.

"It was fictitious and illegal," said Coffina. "And there are consequences."

This article originally appeared in New York Post and is republished here with permission