PHILADELPHIA _ Maybe Johnny Bobbitt should invest in an E-ZPass.
For the second time in a little over a month, a Philadelphia judge sent the formerly homeless veteran back across the Delaware River and into New Jersey to face charges stemming from his participation in the now-infamous $400,000 GoFundMe scam case.
Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner granted extradition back to the Garden State Tuesday, where the 35-year-old Bobbitt will answer to charges that he violated the conditions of his release from jail while awaiting trial. Bobbitt is expected to return to the Burlington County Jail Tuesday.
Bobbitt's attorney, public defender Jordan Barnett, reminded his client in court that if he fails again in the future to appear to any proceedings in New Jersey, "could put us back in the same situation."
Bobbitt, who appeared in court in tattered, white-washed jeans and a drab olive sweater with a hole toward the bottom, was arrested by Philadelphia Police on Jan. 9 after a New Jersey judge ordered him to be picked up for skipping a court hearing in the scam.
Last month, a Superior Court judge in Mount Holly ordered Bobbitt to stay drug-free; attend Narcotics Anonymous hearings; provide the court with his address, a copy of his lease and proof of efforts to find employment; and to check in with pretrial staff to provide urine tests and updates.
At another hearing, "indications" surfaced that Bobbitt was using drugs again, had failed to report to court officials three days after his release on bail. He then didn't show up for a court hearing on Jan. 8, despite his public defender expecting him to attend.
Bobbitt is accused of manufacturing a Good-Samaritan narrative along with two accomplices that fooled well-meaning donors out of nearly $403,000 in 2017-18. GoFundMe said it has refunded all donations.
He was charged with conspiracy, fraud and theft by deception.
He and his alleged co-conspirators, Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure, a former Florence, N.J., couple, are accused of fabricating a story in which they claimed that Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 to purchase gas for her when she ran out of it on I-95 in Philadelphia, near where he was panhandling, in October 2017.
D'Amico and McClure have been released and are awaiting trial.
In New Jersey, Bobbitt was recently accepted into drug court, a diversionary program that allows nonviolent drug addicts to plead guilty to some charges and to receive intensive rehabilitation and monitoring instead of criminal prosecution.
As Bobbitt left the courtroom, Judge Lerner added: "Good luck to you, Mr. Bobbitt."
