Jail not in psychic's future after she pays $40K restitution

Staten Island Media Group/April 15, 2016

By Frank Donnelly

Staten Island, New York -- Jail isn't in the future of this purported psychic now that she's paid a victim $40,000 restitution.

Tracey Nicholas, 46, who was accused last year of swindling $185,000 from a customer, pleaded guilty Thursday in Criminal Court to a misdemeanor count of petit larceny, said her lawyer Louis E. Diamond.

A law enforcement source with knowledge of the case said the victim, then 58, sought to resolve some personal and financial problems with Nicholas' aid.

Nicholas, a Westerleigh resident, claimed she had a connection to God and could exorcise the spirit haunting the man, according to a criminal complaint and the source.

Nicholas met the victim multiple times between March 2012 and December 2014 in a parking lot on Victory Boulevard in Meiers Corners, according to police and the complaint.

She was arrested in July of last year after an investigation. The defendant was charged with felony counts of grand larceny and stolen-property possession, plus misdemeanor counts of fortune telling.

In exchange for her plea, Nicholas was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge, said Diamond.

The lawyer said the restitution amount was determined after an extensive financial investigation by prosecutors, whose diligence he praised.

"I think it was the proper resolution," he said.

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