Ashley Crooks pleaded guilty in Cape May County Superior Court.
A former Ocean City therapist who used her clients' credit cards to pay thousands of dollars in psychic readings stole from at least one more client after she was given pre-trial intervention.
Ashley Crooks, 34, was first charged in February 2022, after an investigation by the Sanctuary Ventures app found she illegally used several credit cards racking up $40,000 in charges in two months texting psychics on the app.
Crooks told police she started using her clients' credit cards after maxing out her own. She did not know how many she used.
Sanctuary's own internal investigation found 30 different credit cards attached to her account. Another 20 or so were declined at the point of sale.
Crooks voluntarily surrendered her license and was quietly allowed into pretrial intervention to avoid criminal prosecution.
The case was handled so quietly, in fact, that her patients were unaware, even ones whose credit cards were used.
Many also did not know the now-unlicensed therapist had changed her business to "life coach," making her patients now clients.
A BreakingAC story that September was a surprise to many.
Heather Bailey, a patient for five years, went viral sharing her discovery of the issue on TikTok. When she confronted Crooks about BreakingAC's report, Crooks told her patient that the story was not accurate and that the credit card charges were a "security breach."
Then, former patients reached out to BreakingAC saying that they had noticed new issues. Their credit cards would charged more than once for each session.
Crooks blamed the Square app she was using, according to emails forwarded to BreakingAC.
But this week, she admitted that she fraudulently used a client's credit card for a total of $1,500.
Her plea to credit card fraud terminates the pretrial intervention she has been on for almost two years, about a year shy of completion.
The plea agreement includes a recommendation by the state for 12 months of probation for both cases, which would be served concurrent.
Under the plea, the state also agrees not to pursue any charges against Crooks for similar actions allegedly committed through Jan. 31, 2023.
The date is interesting, since it covers months after she supposedly closed her business completely and moved out of state.
BreakingAC reported in October 2022, that the business was still active, despite the claims it was shuttered.
That addendum also means if any of the clients who claimed she overcharged them comes forward, there will be no additional criminal charges as long as the claims are before that date.
They will be able to pursue the money civilly.
Crooks' parents accompanied her to court Wednesday.
Her mother grabbed the hand of a reporter who was trying video the proceedings.
"Can you please put that away?" the woman asked.
Crooks' father then went to defense attorney Melissa Rosenblum, who made a case for her client at a sidebar with the judge and state.
Judge Christine Smith went off the bench briefly. When she returned, a sheriff's officer informed BreakingAC that the judge had not been made aware that video and photo was approved for the proceeding and would allow only still shots.
No reason for the video ban of a public court hearing was given. The state Judiciary is looking into the issue at BreakingAC's request.
During her plea, Crooks was asked her highest education level, to which she responded: "Graduate school."
It was an interesting detail, since she had a doctorate hanging in her office, after a social media post celebrating her achievement of receiving a "Ph.D. while seeing 45 clients a week and running three businesses."
It turns out, that was fake.
BreakingAC confirmed that Nova Southeastern University has no record of her graduating from their doctoral program. She did receive her masters from the university in 2015.
After court, the victim in the case spoke briefly with BreakingAC.
She said she did not like that Assistant Prosecutor Ed Shim said people deserve a second chance.
"She was on her second chance when she did this," the woman said, since Crooks was on PTI when she charged fraudulently charged $1,500 to the former client's card.
Crooks is scheduled for sentencing July 24.
