The Texas family who raised over $700,000 online to help a frail grandfather retire, only to be accused of lying by GoFundMe, have already raised over a quarter million on a different website.
asserted
grandfather → raise → website
Don Johnson and his wife Josephine captured hearts across America after a GoFundMe campaign shared on September 2 by someone claiming to be a neighbor named 'Erin Howell' showed footage of the frail 81-year-old delivering airport baggage to cover his wife's cancer treatments.
asserted
old → capture → treatments
The campaign raised more than $732,000 to help Don retire and care for his ailing wife – before GoFundMe abruptly refunded every donor last Friday.
asserted
GoFundMe → raise → donor
The platform stated that Erin Howell was actually the couple's daughter, Amy Johnson, and ruled that by using a different name she violated their terms and conditions.
asserted
she → state → terms
Amy then launched a new fundraiser on GiveSendGo the next day and admitted to initially using a fake name but insisted that the story about the neighbor, video footage and diagnosis are all 'real.'
asserted
story → launch → neighbor
The new fundraiser has raised more than $300,000 toward its $350,000 goal as of Wednesday morning, with some individual donors giving as much as $3,000.
asserted
donors → raise → 3,000
While police have said they are not investigating the family's crowdfunding efforts, the Daily Mail can reveal that Don appears to have a checkered financial past.
asserted
Don → say → past
In 2004, Don was handed a felony theft charge, public records suggest.
asserted
records → hand → charge
The 81-year-old alongside his wife Josephine in an interview with Fox 4 after the clip of him struggling went viral
The theft was allegedly less than $20,000 but more than $1,500, and the charge originated out of Frisco, Texas.
uncertain
charge → struggle → Frisco
He was placed on deferred adjudication, a special form of judge-ordered community supervision that permits a defendant to accept responsibility for a crime without an actual conviction being placed on the record.
asserted
conviction → place → record
Public records also show that Johnson pleaded guilty of writing a bad check in 2010 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2000 in Colorado.
asserted
Johnson → show → Colorado
Johnson's criminal past is not the only curious detail of the GoFundMe saga that has captured the nation's attention.
asserted
that → capture → attention
In an interview with Fox 4 before GoFundMe triggered the refunds, Josephine could not identify the type of cancer she is diagnosed with.
uncertain
she → trigger → cancer
'What is the official kind of cancer,' the Fox 4 reporter asked.
asserted
reporter → ask → cancer
'I hate to put this out here because I always think, "Do you think I need to,"' Josephine responded.
asserted
Josephine → hate → this
Don interjected: 'Go ahead and tell her, please.
asserted
Don → interject → her
'
'I hate to say... you say the word,' Josephine replied.
asserted
Josephine → hate → word
'It's pancreatic cancer,' Don ultimately told the reporter.
asserted
Don → tell → reporter
The Johnsons have a new fundraising effort on the website GiveGoSend which was set up on Monday
Don Johnson pictured with his daughter Amy last week while being interviewed by Fox 4 News in Dallas
asserted
Johnson → have → Dallas
During the same interview with Fox4, Don appeared to buy into the lie about 'Erin Howell.
asserted
Don → appear → Howell
'
'Was delivering luggage to her and she saw I was struggling a little bit,' Don told the local station.
asserted
Don → deliver → station
She's a very private person but doesn't want to be involved in this.
asserted
She → want → this
She's told me that several times.
asserted
She → tell → that
Even after GoFundMe indicated that they had not been honest about the account holder and returned the donations on Friday, the family sat down with Fox 4 Saturday and maintained that Erin was a real person.
asserted
Erin → indicate → Fox
'I used my middle name because I didn't think it would be a big issue to put the name as someone else, she wasn't going to let me use her real name,' Amy told the outlet.
asserted
Amy → use → name
Public records list Amy Johnson's full name as Amy Erin Johnson, with Howell appearing as a family name on her mother's side.
asserted
Howell → list → side
Records also show Don is married to a woman named Jodie, rather than Josephine.
asserted
Don → show → Josephine
Despite admitting to falsifying some details of her original bid to raise money for her parents, Amy has continued her efforts to help her mom and dad.
asserted
Amy → admit → mom
'My mom has pancreatic cancer.
asserted
mom → have → cancer
The job is real,' Amy wrote on the GiveGoSend Monday.
asserted
Amy → write → GiveGoSend
Johnson, 81, pictured carrying luggage upstairs in a video posted to the GoFundMe
'
asserted
Johnson → picture → GoFundMe
A lot of you already gave on GoFundMe.
asserted
lot → give → GoFundMe
That page was originally set up on my account because it was already established and we thought that would be the simplest way.
asserted
that → set → account
When the name on the page was updated, GoFundMe treated it as a discrepancy.
asserted
GoFundMe → update → discrepancy
We offered documentation.
asserted
We → offer → documentation
They refunded the donations anyway.
asserted
They → refund → donations
Amy added she wanted to give the public a way to still help her parents.
asserted
she → add → parents
'Nobody wanted your gift sent back.
asserted
gift → want → ?
Nothing about my mom’s treatment changed.
asserted
Nothing → change → treatment
Nothing about my dad’s age or his work changed.
asserted
Nothing → change → age
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
