Local News in Brief : Fortuneteller Ordered to Repay $20,500 to 2 Additional Victims

A Sherman Oaks fortuneteller, jailed for swindling four customers out of about $42,000, was ordered Wednesday to make restitution to two more victims.

Laura Johns, who predicted tragedies in the lives of her customers, then offered to lift evil spirits for a fee, could have faced additional charges of grand theft, but prosecutors agreed to only require the restitution.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp ordered Johns, 28, to return $4,500 to Leon Polosian and $16,000 to Mehrdad Darvish when she is released from Sybil Brand Institute for Women, where she is serving a one-year sentence.

Johns, known professionally as “Sheena,” was sentenced in November after pleading no contest to four counts of grand theft. She also was ordered to pay back her victims.

Johns performed a variety of rituals from her fortunetelling business on Ventura Boulevard. One customer, Juan Rivera Gonzales, a 32-year-old Mexican immigrant, said Johns convinced him that he would die of cancer if he did not give her $27,000.