CAMDEN, N.J. _ Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against Mark D'Amico, a New Jersey man accused of being the mastermind of a $400,000 GoFundMe scam that relied on a fake Good Samaritan story to raise money for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr.
D'Amico, 40, formerly of Bordentown, N.J., is charged by criminal complaint with one count each of conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a news release.
D'Amico was expected to appear Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams in federal court in Camden for his initial appearance on the federal charges.
His attorney, Mark Davis, was not immediately available for comment Thursday.
In March, D'Amico's former girlfriend Katelyn McClure and Bobbitt had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, respectively, in connection with the same scheme, federal prosecutors said.
The three also faced state charges in connection with the GoFundMe scheme.
D'Amico in May pleaded not guilty to state charges of theft, conspiracy, and related crimes in Superior Court in Mount Holly.
In April, McClure, 29, of Bordentown, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Mount Holly to conspiracy as part of an agreement that called for her to face a four-year prison term. She admitted that she and D'Amico befriended Bobbitt, 36, outside a Philadelphia casino in 2017 and made up a story that Bobbitt had offered her his last $20 when she ran out of gas off I-95 in Philadelphia.
Earlier in April, Bobbitt Jr. was sentenced to five years on special probation by a Superior Court judge and ordered to enroll in a long-term, live-in drug rehabilitation program after admitting to his role in the scam. He had pleaded guilty in March to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
