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A Texas psychic who claims to have "spiritual gifts from the almighty" is suing the state of New York for the reward money promised to anyone who helped find escaped inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt.


New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in June that the state would pay a $100,000 bounty to anyone who provided information leading to the capture of the escapees, whose three-week prison break captured the attention of cable news channels this summer.

Self-described psychic Eric Drake writes in a lawsuit filed earlier this month that he called Governor Andrew Cuomo's office and gave them this key information:



Plaintiff foresaw the following concerning David Sweat and Richard Matt: 1). The two inmates separated for some reason, 2). That the police were walking right by or over them were they were hiding, 3). That Joyce Mitchell had more information than appeared, and that the police should play “bad cop” “bad cop,” to get more information, 4). That one of them was heading for mountains and clear rivers.


That information all turned out to be "right on point," Drake writes. But when he tried to collect the reward money after Matt was shot and Sweat was captured, Drake said that no one in the governor's office would even tell him how to file a request for the money.

So now he's suing Cuomo and New York, alleging that the governor broke a "tweeted written contract" that promised a reward.

"The odds of someone without the gifts of the Spirit of God, guessing on the information that the Plaintiff provided to the authorities is probably less than (1) one out of 25 billion," Drake says. He thinks he was ignored because his gifts aren't understood.


Drake claims that he's had these powers since he was a child. According to his complaint, he's "foreseen the deaths of many people," including several family members, and has healed people with cancer by praying with them.

He says he predicted the death of President Obama's grandmother, just before election night 2008, and told a campaign volunteer in advance that it would happen. But the lawsuit also contains a darker prophecy for the Obama family:



Plaintiff have foreseen a much deeper sorrow in the hearts of President Barack Obama and the First Lady—one that will be particularly difficult for them to face. This vision will only be revealed privately to President Obama and the First Lady in person, and no one else—not even to the Vice-President Biden.


Later in the rambling, 31-page complaint, Drake predicts that neither Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, nor Donald Trump will be elected president next year. (The lawsuit was filed on October 6—far before Biden announced he wasn't running.)

This isn't the first time Drake says he's assisted with a law enforcement action. He says he gave Washington, D.C. police details that would have helped them catch the snipers who killed 17 people in 2002, but that his advice was ignored.


Drake writes that he plans to use the New York reward money to publish a book of his prophecies. It doesn't sound like it will be a pleasant read: "The Plaintiff’s future predictions regarding the United States of America, which is contained in his new book are 1000 times greater than the suffering of the great depression," he writes.

There's no response yet from Cuomo or the state. A judge has approved Drake to proceed with his lawsuit without paying fees considering he "has about $80 in his bank account."


Here's Drake's full lawsuit:


Casey Tolan is a National News Reporter for Fusion based in New York City.