Images: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia
By Jon Donnis
Gina Rita Russell, 35, originally from New York City and Los Angeles, has been sentenced to 125 months in prison for orchestrating a complex fraud, extortion, and money laundering operation. This scheme resulted in a Maryland man embezzling more than $4 million from his employer in Washington, D.C. Russell is the sixth and final defendant to be sentenced in this case.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
In April 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Russell along with her ex-common-law husband Robert Evans, his brothers Tony John Evans and Corry Blue Evans, and their parents, Archie Kaslov and Candy Evans, all hailing from New York. These indictments were related to various charges linked to the elaborate scheme. Alarmingly, one of Russell's accomplices even threatened to harm the Maryland man's young children during the course of the extortion.
The evidence presented by the government revealed that Russell met a woman in Manhattan in October 2009 and conducted a fake psychic reading for her. Despite having no psychic abilities, Russell convinced the woman otherwise and told her that dire consequences would follow unless large sums of money were raised for Russell and her family. Initially, the woman provided funds from her legitimate employment, but Russell later persuaded her to lie to her father, claiming she needed money for therapy, sleep studies, and university fees. After giving his daughter substantial financial support, the father eventually ceased his assistance.
Russell then convinced the woman to engage in sex work to earn more money. The woman advertised sensual massage services online, including on Backpage.com. Through one of these ads, she met a Maryland man who fell in love with her and proposed, despite being married with children. Exploiting his affection, Russell and the woman, along with Robert Evans, Tony John Evans, Corry Blue Evans, and Archie Kaslov, extorted money and gold bars from him. The woman claimed she owed money to dangerous individuals and that her life was in jeopardy. Consequently, the Maryland man embezzled more than $4 million from his employer between January and March 2017. As part of the plot, Tony John Evans impersonated a mobster during phone calls with the Maryland man, even threatening his children. Russell also dictated threatening texts and provided the woman with instructions on what to tell the man.
Believing the embezzled funds were being delivered to mobsters, the Maryland man converted the money into cash and gold bars, which he then delivered to drop-off locations in New York, including hotel rooms. However, the funds were actually going to members of the Russell-Evans-Kaslov family.
In July 2019, Russell pleaded guilty to interference with interstate commerce by extortion. Although her sentencing was initially scheduled for May 2024, the government discovered that Russell had engaged in similar criminal activities in Los Angeles. She convinced another woman of her psychic abilities, defrauded the woman's father, and persuaded her to raise money through sex work. Upon learning this, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a warrant for Russell's arrest. She was detained on 19 March 2024 and has remained in custody since then.
In addition to her prison sentence of 10 years and five months, Judge Chutkan ordered Russell to pay $4,217,542.86 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release.
Tony John Evans, 35, and Robert Evans, 37, both pleaded guilty to interference with interstate commerce by extortion and were sentenced to five years in prison each. Corry Blue Evans, 31, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and received a 41-month prison sentence. Archie Kaslov, 57, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Candy Evans, 55, pleaded guilty to tampering with a witness by corrupt persuasion or misleading conduct and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
The case was thoroughly investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman, former Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Kent, and a team of supporting attorneys and paralegal specialists.
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