Melissa Lori Lee
WOODLAND HILLS — A self-professed fortune teller and psychic pleaded no contest to one charge of felony grand theft last Wednesday.
28-year-old Melissa Lori Lee has made an initial restitution payment of $20,000 after she made the recent plea.
From January of 2014 to June of 2015, she stole over $200,000 from eight different clients in the business she operated on the 5200 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
Her scheme was to have those who were going through hard times give her money that they would later have returned to them after she did her spiritual work, likely believing that such an action would relieve them of their troubles.
Instead, Lee relieved them of their cash. After months passed, these individuals attempted to ask for their money back but Lee did not return phone calls and texts.
Sentencing will not occur until February 8, 2018. Lee will face anywhere from 16 months in prison to 3 years of probation. Her sentence will depend on what she pays in restitution up until that time.
