Philadelphia homeless man's lawyer says couple who raised $400k for him is withholding money
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(CNN)Johnny Bobbitt Jr. had a new life ahead of him.
Last October, the homeless man used his last $20 to buy gas for a woman, Kate McClure, who was stranded on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. McClure, in return, created a GoFundMe campaign with her boyfriend Mark D'Amico to raise money for Bobbitt to thank him.
McClure
and Bobbitt's story quickly transformed into a viral "feel-good" story,
and the campaign, as of Friday night, raised a total of $402,706 within
nine months.
But what started as a good
deed has now devolved into an all-out feud. Bobbitt's lawyer says a
large portion of money never reached his client.
"From
what I can see, the GoFundMe account raised $402,000 and GoFundMe
charged a fee of approximately $30,000. Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure
gave Johnny about $75,000. There should be close to another $300,000
available to Johnny," Bobbitt's lawyer Chris Fallon told CNN on Friday.
Fallon
says he and another attorney, Jacqueline Promislo, are working to get
that money back. The goal, Fallon said, is to secure a guardian to
manage that money so the 14,000 people who contributed to the GoFundMe
campaign would know where their money is going.
A spokesperson for GoFundMe said the crowdfunding website "is looking into the claims of misuse regarding this campaign."
"When
there is a dispute, we work with all parties involved to ensure funds
go to the right place," GoFundMe's statement read. "We will work to
ensure that Johnny receives the help he deserves and that the donors'
intentions are honored."
Misuse,
the company said, "is very rare on our platform." Misused campaigns make
up "less than one-tenth of 1% of all campaigns."
The
relationship between Bobbitt and McClure began to deteriorate when she
and her boyfriend bought Bobbitt a camper -- they originally promised
him a house -- and parked it in their driveway in New Jersey, where
Bobbitt lived until June, Promislo said.
"This
was not his choice and he didn't have any say in the matter," Promislo
said. "Johnny would have preferred to go back to North Carolina. That
would have been a much better environment."
Bobbitt,
a North Carolina native, "had no access to money or food" while living
in the camper, Promislo said. "He didn't have any ability to take care
of himself there."
Promislo said
the camper was bought with the money from GoFundMe. McClure and D'Amico
also bought Bobbitt a truck, which they drove. The truck ended up
breaking down.
CNN has reached out to both McClure and D'Amico, but has not received a response.
Fallon said Bobbitt has an addiction problem, and that's possibly a reason McClure didn't want to give him any more money.
"It's not heroin or opioids but another drug problem," Fallon said.
In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer,
McClure said she and D'Amico did what they could to help Bobbitt. The
couple told the paper they gave Bobbitt more than half the money but are
withholding the rest until he gets a job and is drug-free.
D'Amico
told the Inquirer that he controls the money but thinks neither he nor
his girlfriend did anything wrong. He said giving such a large amount of
money to an addict is like giving someone a loaded gun.
The
Inquirer also said Bobbitt wondered how McClure paid for a new BMW and
went on vacations to California, Florida and Las Vegas. McClure said the
couple used their own money for the BMW and vacations. D'Amico told the
Inquirer he spent $500 of the GoFundMe money to gamble, but he paid the
money back to the campaign.
Promislo told CNN she can't speak to the claims made in the Inquirer.
Promislo
said Bobbitt is currently living on the streets of Philadelphia "in
harm's way." He was very successful at a methadone clinic before, she
said. He had detoxed himself, but she said he is not physically in detox
now.