Martha's Vineyard Woman Paid 'Psychic' $3.5M For Exorcisms: Feds

A Florida woman was sentenced to prison for bilking an elderly Martha's Vineyard woman out of $3.5 million for "repeated exorcisms."

BOSTON, MA — A Florida woman who claimed to be a psychic was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday after bilking an elderly Martha's Vineyard woman out of $3.5 million for repeated exorcisms. Sally Ann Johnson, 41, also agreed to repay the victim, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.

Johnson conducted the scheme from from 2007 to 2014, prosecutors said.

"Johnson was paid over $3.5 million by an elderly woman living on Martha's Vineyard to purportedly perform spiritual cleansing and healing services to rid the woman of demons through repeated exorcisms," Lelling said in a statement.

Johnson admitted to concealing the money from the Internal Revenue Service. In October, she pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to interfering with tax laws.

"Johnson used an alias and directed the woman to send payments to at least three different bank accounts with which Johnson was associated, including an account in another person's name," then-U.S. Attorney William Weinreb said in a statement in October. "Johnson then withdrew large portions of the woman's payments from the accounts in cash. In addition, Johnson accrued substantial charges on a credit card held in the name of the elderly woman, who ultimately paid the credit card bills, thereby concealing from the IRS the true extent of Johnson's income. Neither Johnson nor any of the businesses she operated filed a tax return or paid taxes on the income she received from the woman."

Johnson owned several businesses, including "Flatiron Psychic," "Psychic Match, Inc." and "Psychic Spiritual Salon, Inc." She offered "psychic readings," "spiritual cleansing & strengthening," and "meditation & healing. She had several aliases, including Angela Johnson, Angelia Johnson and Sally Reed, prosecutors said.

Full Article & Source:
Martha's Vineyard Woman Paid 'Psychic' $3.5M For Exorcisms: Feds