BOSTON: A self-proclaimed psychic who was paid $3.5 million by an elderly Massachusetts woman in exchange for claiming to cleanse her of demons pleaded guilty on Thursday to trying to avoid paying taxes.
Sally Ann Johnson, 41, for more than seven years provided what she described as healing services to a resident of the island of Martha’s Vineyard, who was more than 70 years old when she first met the spiritual healer, according to court papers.
“I honestly did not do the right thing,” she said.
Johnson, who has resided in New York, Florida, Illinois and at times Massachusetts, faces up to three years in prison.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17. Her lawyers declined to comment.
According to court papers, Johnson at various times lived with the unnamed woman on Martha’s Vineyard, a favorite vacation spot for the rich and famous.
In an effort to evade the IRS’s scrutiny, Johnson, using the alias Angela Johnson, directed the woman to make payments in the name of Sally Johnson and another of her businesses, Stones of the World, charging papers said.
Johnson made significant cash withdrawals from those accounts and also accrued charges on a credit card held in the woman’s name, according to charging documents.
