Martha’s Vineyard Psychic Bilks Elderly Woman of $3.5M, Gets 26 Months Prison (MV Times)
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a south Florida woman to 26 months in prison for bilking millions out of elderly and infirm women who thought they were paying for exorcisms and spiritual cleansings.
The court also ordered Sally Ann Johnson to repay $3.5 million to one of her elderly victims whom she conned for a period of seven years ending in 2014. Johnson, 41, pled guilty in October to attempting to interfere with the administration of income tax laws and was ordered to make restitution of $726,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Johnson ran her scams through various businesses, including Flatiron Psychic, Psychic Match, Inc. and Psychic Spiritual Salon, Inc. All of the businesses offered discarnate services including “psychic readings,” “spiritual cleansing” and “healing,” according to the U.S. Attorney.
Johnson’s undoing began when Chilmark, Mass. police Sgt. Sean Slavin noticed something was amiss when he responded to a call of woman who claimed that her housekeeper had stolen from her. Slavin discovered a more serious problem when the woman, who showed signs of Alzheimer’s disease, said she was about to move to another home, but couldn’t until her “healer” arrived to get rid of “demons.”
Slavin diligently pursued the issue and collected enough evidence for the FBI to finally make an arrest, which resulted in Johnson’s conviction.
