Woodway woman pleads guilty to fraud in psychic scam

A Woodway woman charged with bilking about $300,000 from callers nationwide in a bogus psychic hotline business pleaded guilty Friday to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges.

Gina Evans, 35, who told U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. that she has a fourth-grade education, faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 in the psychic fraud scheme.

Smith will sentence Evans, who remains free on bond, on Nov. 28.

Evans and her 70-year-old father-in-law, Charles Beitman, both were charged in the case. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Smith-Burris dismissed the charges against Beitman on Friday and agreed to return $900 that was seized from him by federal, Woodway and Waco officers.

As part of the plea agreement, Evans will forfeit to the government $72,736 in cash that was seized from bank safety deposit boxes, her home at 1038 Bob-O-Link Drive in Woodway and a vacant lot at Nine Hidden Cove Drive in Waco.

Smith-Burris said the government will sell her home and the lot to make partial restitution to Evans' victims. She said the government dismissed the charges against Beitman because "we felt that was a fair resolution to the case."

Evans pleaded guilty to operating a spiritual advice and guidance business from her home that focused on removing "evil" from her customers' money and possessions.
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According to federal court records, Evans told callers that she charged an initial fee of between $150 and $250 for a psychic reading. She told them she could help them rid their money or possessions of evil, but needed to be in possession of the items to do so.

Customers responded by sending her Rolex watches, valuable coins, jewelry, a computer, a big-screen TV and more, agents with the IRS criminal investigations division, the FBI and U.S. Postal Service charged.

She ran afoul of the law when she broke her promises to return the items, Smith-Burris said.
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