Johnny Bobbitt sued Mark D'Amico and Katie McClure for mismanaging the donation money meant for him after the couple refused to give him roughly half of the remaining cash. Officials say that D'Amico and McClure “mixed the GoFundMe money with their own,” and Bobbitt's attorney claims that the couple only gave Bobbitt $75,000—rather than the $200,000 the couple say they gave.... Bobbitt gave McClure his last $20 late last year while she was stranded on a Philadelphia interstate for gas, prompting her to start the GoFundMe to help Bobbitt....I hope it works out well for Bobbitt, the destitute and purely generous man who, with $75,000, became a man who knows he's been cheated and brings a lawsuit to get what's his.
September 1, 2018
"A couple who raised over $400,000 on GoFundMe for a homeless man has been ordered by a judge to turn over the remaining funds after they refused to give it to him...."
I guess they didn't realize the homeless man would figure out how to bring a law suit, but...
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66 comments:
His lawyer and the IRS will take a big chunk of the remaining money, but I question the prudence of giving a homeless (or any) man a large amount of money in one go. It could easily destroy his life, as it has lottery winners, actors, musicians, and athletes.
He got internet famous, so a lawyer took his case. I've been trying to sue these assholes for decades over my naming of the establishment and the logo design (and them physically assaulting me using actual Nazis) but no one will touch it without money up front. Even with rock-solid evidence.
That's justice for you.
Link fixed.
Thanks for the heads-up.
It wouldn't surprise me if many GoFundMe funds are misappropriated.
It kind of messes with my head, that no one will help with an injustice, while I continually watch others help in an injustice:
Several co-signers willing to help NXIVM co-founder with bond
This country is just so unfair.
Ralph L said...
" question the prudence of giving a homeless (or any) man a large amount of money in one go."
This is the reparations hater's bullshit - you can't just give people their money - which always reveals what people think of others. We don't know why he's homeless. He could be perfectly fine, just in need of money. It's his - let him have it. He knows his needs better than anyone, unless he's unstable.
Y'all sure get a funny sense of "Freedom" when it comes to other people and money.
You should read the fine print of Go Fund Me before you send money. The person raising the money has a lot of control over how the money will be disbursed.
It wouldn't surprise me if many GoFundMe funds are misappropriated.
Or misrepresented entirely.
Ralph L said...
".. I question the prudence of giving a homeless (or any) man a large amount of money in one go. It could easily destroy his life, as it has lottery winners, actors, musicians, and athletes."
Yeah, he could end up homeless.
Y'all sure get a funny sense of "Freedom" when it comes to other people and money.
Says the man who has a funny sense of entitlement when it comes to other people's, who had nothing to do with the reason for reparations, money. I don't recall you ever demanding the same from Africans. You know, the ones responsible for the initial imprisonment and sale of other Africans, which you are not.
Annie said...
"Says the man who has a funny sense of entitlement when it comes to other people's, who had nothing to do with the reason for reparations, money."
So you don't think America was racist when WWII was going on - or after?
"I don't recall you ever demanding the same from Africans."
They didn't have or said they defended the idea that "All Men Are Created Equal" - nor did they make the 3/5 rule to "explain" it - so what demands would I make on them?
"You know, the ones responsible for the initial imprisonment and sale of other Africans, which you are not."
Can't sell shit without a buyer - from America - Land of the Free and the home of the eternally trying to get out of it's responsibilities.
The guy is a self-admitted drug addict who has tried rehab a few times and failed. The couple is saying they gave him large chunks of cash and he blew through it on drugs, so they fear that handing him the money would make them complicit in a virtual suicide.
Even if that is all true, I think the couple should at this point put up their hands and admit they are not his parents. Give him his money. What happens after that is his responsibility.
Lorena Bobbitt didn't like what her John Bobbitt was doing either.
And her response was the same, cut him off.
Annie,
It is truly remarkable how many white people are furious about reparations when they don't even understand the issue. A lifetime of this - just me, repeatedly explaining to whites what they should've really learned about on their own - that's even a reason for me to get them:
I didn't sign my life up to be The Whites Whisperer.
Jarby said...
"I think the couple should at this point put up their hands and admit they are not his parents. Give him his money. What happens after that is his responsibility."
That's the way we should all be.
Perhaps the fact that people are unwilling to help you, Crack, has to do with your holier-than-thou, you-don't-know-shit attitude. You've built a wall of antagonism around you that can't be penetrated.
There are people who truly care and would like to help, but you push everyone away, stamping your feet that there is no one that an understand it more than you.
If you really need your rage to drive you, than that same rage will also drive everyone away.
The couple are assholes...but what gives the judge the right to demand anything of them?
but no one will touch it without money up front. Even with rock-solid evidence.
If you can't find some ambulance chasing shyster to take your case, you probably don't have one.
They didn't have or said they defended the idea that "All Men Are Created Equal"
And they still don't. In fact the only people who do are White people.
- nor did they make the 3/5 rule to "explain" it
Racist ignorance. The 3/5 compromise was designed to help Black people and weaken racism. There is a reason that the slave states wanted slaves to count as a whole person and free states didn't want to count them at all. Representation and power.
- so what demands would I make on them?
Perhaps start with an acknowledgement of guilt and an apology? Maybe an offer to resettle the descendants of those they offended against?
This is a scam and the homeless guy was in on it.
It is truly remarkable how many white people are furious about reparations when they don't even understand the issue
Nobody likes being punished for something they didn't do.
We are all descended from those who have been persecuted and oppressed. Some of us ignore the fact and get on with things. Others wallow in self pity and victimization and fail to progress.
They should have put it in a trust fund. They are not his parents or guardian. It should have been easy.
These people are stupid. They invited him into their home. All of their decisions are poor ones. They need more help than the professional bum.
The fine print of GoFundMe is the spanner in the works. The next to next to last thing needed is another Court asserting the authority of the State in what seems to a civil dispute devolved from mutual initial good intentions gone awry. The next to last thing is for the husband and wife to squander the funds for their personal use.
The last thing this situation needs is Bobbitt dead by an overdose.
An article on this story reported the couple got a mobile home for the man as he requested; allowed it to be parked on their property when no other location could be found, and created an account funded with $25,000 from the GoFundMe monies available to Bobbitt, who went through that money in 2 weeks, on what they said were drug purchases.
The Court would be doing no favors for Bobbitt by making the entire lump sum available to him, if the $25,000 drug spree is true. The Court will hopefully impose controls over the funds being pissed away, and then remove the State from the situation as much as possible.
Some kind of conservatorship seems prudent for a total accounting of funds to date, and providing for Bobbitt in a way that doesn't amount to a death by overdose situation before all available regimens for his benefit have been explored. Life is sadly messy, especially when money becomes the center of everything.
I have a Go Fund Me page. My purpose is to raise money to rescue puppies from animal shelters. I will then ship these puppies to Africa where they will be placed with AIDS orphans. These puppies will give these kids, many of whom are homeless, love, affection, and a sense of purpose. It's win-win for both the puppy and the orphan. If everyone at the Althouse blog sends me as little as fifty or a hundred dollars, I will have enough money to complete the planning arrangements for this and be able to go on to meet my next fund raising goal.
So homeless man gives money to woman to buy gas, so she can be home with her family. The family's thought, we should do something for homeless man. Their solution, ask other people to give them money for the homeless man, so they can give him some of other's people money in a manner in which they can control homeless man's life.
Any guesses what political party they align?
If they thought he would spend all the money on drugs, why did they do the fundraising in the first place? Why not just go back and find him and repay him the $20 plus some extra for his generosity in lending it to her?
Maybe it's because I'm not a nice person, but I doubt he gave her his last $20. If he did, he wasn't acting rationally. Who gives away the last of their money to some twit who didn't pay attention to her fuel gauge when he himself needs food and shelter? Every person in this story sounds dodgy to me.
I question the prudence of giving a homeless (or any) man a large amount of money in one go
Which (presumably) was this couple's rationale (in addition I suspect to wanting to take some "administrative fees" off the top). But if they represented to the public that these funds were for Bobbitt, then it is NOT THEIR MONEY. It's his, even if in their possession, and he can spend it any damn way he pleases, even if it is on a pile of crack, heroin, PCP and meth all to be consumed at one sitting.
If they wanted to prevent him from being so self-destructive and irresponsible, they should have instead created a trust for him, with the trustee having discretion over disbursals of the money, as suggested above. But they foolishly did not and instead thought that they could treat this guy like their child or dog, getting treats only when they thought it prudent to do so.
Suppose this guy had won the lottery instead. Should the state refuse to pay him his $10 million because he might (probably will) spend it on booze and drugs?? (And we should not be all that surprised that unemployable people on the streets should turn to something that will make them numb to that miserable existence.)
So I went to the link, which then required me to follow another link to yet another page. And then I saw the photos of the people involved. Homeless guy is white. Couple are white.
How did race get dragged into this?
Also read that Bobbitt's lawyers are serving pro bono.
And that the homeless guy did NOT spend it all on drugs, but spent it on overdue debts and sending some money to support his family.
Bobbitt wonders how McClure, a receptionist for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, paid for the new BMW she drives and for vacations to California, Florida, and Las Vegas, as well as a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. He also questions how much D'Amico, a carpenter, spent gambling. . . .
There are no trusts, D'Amico said in an interview last week. He said the remaining $200,000 is in a savings account . . .
D'Amico said he controls the money and did nothing wrong. "Write what you want," he said last week. "Giving him all that money, it's never going to happen. I'll burn it in front of him," said D'Amico, who in recent months has had his own legal problems stemming from traffic offenses, a suspended driver's license, and an arrest for failing to appear in municipal court. . . .
After he moved from the hotel room into the camper, Bobbitt said, he was worried because D'Amico seemed to spend more time gambling online or at casinos than working. If he brought up finances, Bobbitt said, the couple were dismissive. D'Amico, he said, would withdraw large sums of money, give some to him, and keep the rest.
Wait until the IRS hits up both parties!! These are not the sort of people who think about that, are they?
Crack
There will be no reparations.
D'Amico admits to misappropriation of funds (theft) --
D'Amico said he spent $500 of the GoFundMe money to gamble because he did not have his SugarHouse Casino card one night, but he said he quickly repaid it with his winnings.
If D'Amico used Bobbitt's money to stake his gambling, then not only does that $500 need to be repaid, but Bobbitt is entitled to all of those winnings too.
Wait until the IRS hits up both parties!
Come to think of it, if no one gave more than $10k, he might not have to pay Federal tax. Any tax accountants here?
By the way --
Here is Bobbitt's fairly active Facebook page going back several years. Appears to be libertarian.
(And we should not be all that surprised that unemployable people on the streets should turn to something that will make them numb to that miserable existence.)
In most cases I believe you have the cause-effect chain completely backward.
There many, many, many more people who have homes and are gainfully employed who, when they go through bad times, decide to self-medicate.
Bobbitt himself did not turn to drugs on a whim. He was living a normal life. Then he went through some bad times and he sought to numb himself from the pain. That led to a downward spiral.
And that is the hell of substance abuse. Users get sucked into using in an attempt to make the misery go away for a bit, and it only makes things worse.
If he sent some money to his family, perhaps they'll come look after him.
Right.
You know, Crack, I am just as sorry that evil white men brought your ancestors here in chains as you are. Maybe sorrier.
Annie C said...
"Perhaps the fact that people are unwilling to help you, Crack, has to do with your holier-than-thou, you-don't-know-shit attitude."
Perhaps, but that would still mean injustice in this country gets a freebie because - what? - someone like Annie doesn't accept she can wrong to a black man? That doesn't speak well of a nation. Which I also point out daily.
"You've built a wall of antagonism around you that can't be penetrated."
Tell me your sign and what invisible god you expect me to respect. Then tell me everything you don't like about blacks. Now expect me to like you. I bet you it's not going to happen - and it's not my fault.
"There are people who truly care and would like to help, but you push everyone away, stamping your feet that there is no one that an understand it more than you."
People who care and would like to help would DO WHAT I ASK - not tell me what they demand I do.
"If you really need your rage to drive you, than that same rage will also drive everyone away."
Annie, I know you: you were never on my side, and never will be. You want a slave - not a human being. You want someone to fight in WWII as you oppress blacks back home - and smile about it. You want MLK in a Birmingham jail, writing of how disappointed he is in his white "friends". You are a white person who wants to be a "white" person.
Sorry, but I ain't got nothing for you. If that gets me nothing, well, you're just living up to your history - and my expectations of you - so save your breath. Whites in America have always been the biggest barrier to it being it's best and always will be.
It's the way YOU want it - and you'll blame blacks for as long as this place stands.
This should give you guys some perspective:
I wrote a song about white privilege in the mid '90s and haven't ever mentioned it again. That's how far ahead of you (who seem to have just heard the word from a BLM activist recently) I am. For me, it's a tired topic, not even close to what black intellectuals are talking about now. We've "moved on" as the NewAgers say.
Michael K appears to have just heard of Peggy McIntosh. That's being LATE.
Gahrie said...
It is truly remarkable how many white people are furious about reparations when they don't even understand the issue
"Nobody likes being punished for something they didn't do."
What an idiot: That statement is Exhibit A that you don't understand the issue.
Michael said...
"Crack
There will be no reparations."
Yeah, and whites said slaves would be free "when pigs fly". I don't see them in the sky, but I KNOW THEY'RE UP THERE!!!
Jupiter said...
"You know, Crack, I am just as sorry that evil white men brought your ancestors here in chains as you are. Maybe sorrier."
I doubt that: it wasn't your folks in the chains.
Jesus. A Crack thread.
"Jesus. A Crack thread."
Sociologists call it "Crackening"
Blogger The Crack Emcee said...
"I doubt that: it wasn't your folks in the chains."
No, but it was my country your sorry ass failed to grow up in.
No Crack, I don't really want to be a white person. All I do is burn and peel and go back to the color of white-out.
Most white people I know want to tan, most black people I know want to get rid of the ash, and most brown people I know want to get rid of their oily t-zone.
It's just skin to me and my friends.
Again, ladies and gentlemen- you can't complain about the thread if you are engaging him.
What an idiot: That statement is Exhibit A that you don't understand the issue.
Then please explain to me why White people who never owned a slave are guilty and have to pay reparations to Black people who have never been a slave.
Then explain why the 360,000 Union army deaths and the trillions in wealth transfer over the last seventy years don't count as reparations anyway.
Then explain to me why the Black community and Black culture became corrupt and dysfunctional after slavery and Jim Crow ended, and how it's all Whitey's fault again.
By the way...why isn't anyone attacking Spain and demanding reparations from Spain who bought far more Black slaves than Americans and treated them far worse?
Black people must never be made to feel bad about, or responsible for, anything, ever.
White men must be made to feel bad about, and responsible for, everything bad, ever.
This post is useless. I can't figure out how to shoehorn my preverted political views into the thread of the OP, nor can I work up the gumption to lord my massive white privilege to bludgeon Ann's most reliably deplorable whites.
Why should IRS be involved in all this as far as the homeless drug addict is concerned? Gifts are not gross income. The story is different for the thieving couple however. Stolen funds generally are gross income.
Crack
OK, put another way, you personally will never see a penny of reparations.
Jupiter said...
"I doubt that: it wasn't your folks in the chains."
"No, but it was my country your sorry ass failed to grow up in."
Which you, of course, also fail to recognize as a failure of your country. Now go salute the flag for the marvelous job the US is doing.
Moron.
Gahrie said...
"Please explain to me why White people who never owned a slave are guilty and have to pay reparations to Black people who have never been a slave."
I am not going to address issues that aren't real like "White people who never owned a slave are guilty and have to pay reparations" when no one has EVER proposed that.
Michael said...
"OK, put another way, you personally will never see a penny of reparations."
You guys don't understand ANYTHING about blacks and the Civil Rights Movement. Do you think any of this has been done with the promise it was just going to benefit the people in their here and now? Really? You missed all that stuff about "standing on the shoulders of giants" that blacks talk about so much? We have been engaged in a centuries-old struggle for justice that no one in the past doubted I'd be carrying on today, so - if you didn't know - now you know:
You're a fool.
Yancey Ward said...
"Again, ladies and gentlemen- you can't complain about the thread if you are engaging him."
Right. I could just talk, like everybody else, and be treated like everybody else - but I'm black and surrounded by racist Right-Wing whites - so viola!
I'm the Belle of the Ball.
It's like visiting a Klan rally.
I'm not saying the couple aren't trying to screw the guy, maybe they are, but suppose they had just given him the money and he'd died of an overdose.
People would be calling them stupid and blaming them for his death. Some prosecutor might even try to go after them on criminal grounds. It's a no win situation.
It's like visiting a Klan rally.
More like visiting a Chuck-Ritmo-Inga post. Way to hijack the discussion.
Mark said...
It's like visiting a Klan rally.
"More like visiting a Chuck-Ritmo-Inga post. Way to hijack the discussion."
Wow - I've gone from accused of being one person (not myself) to three - y'all's crazy.
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