A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that sentencing for a Napa naturopathic doctor accused of selling fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards and immunization pills will be set for November after the court denied her motion to withdraw her guilty plea, court records show.
Juli Mazi, 41, pleaded guilty in April in federal court to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements regarding health care. She is now due to be sentenced on Nov. 29.
Mazi allegedly told a patient that she could provide them with pills that contained a small amount of the COVID-19 virus that would generate life-long immunity by creating antibodies. She also allegedly sent U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC) vaccination cards to the patient that contained specific lot numbers and instructions for how to falsify that they had received the two-dose Moderna vaccine when they had not received any of the three federally authorized vaccines.
Prosecutors allege that Mazi had provided fake vaccination cards to more than 200 people as well as fake immunization pills for vaccination required for children to attend school.
She also allegedly provided fake vaccine cards to 100 people who planned to submit to schools as proof that their child had received the vaccination.
Mazi has submitted 57 character reference letters to the court since her case began, according to court filings. One letter is from her daughter, Anantya, who said that she is a hardworking single mom and also an “amazing dog mom” to animals she has adopted. Patients also spoke up for Mazi, with one saying that “her intentions are purely to help humanity heal.”
In her motion to withdraw her guilty plea, Mazi, who is representing herself after firing her lawyer, decried the COVID-19 lockdowns, mask mandates and social distancing and characterized them as “mass psychosis” fueled by the media. She also touts the use of the questionable treatments of Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin against the virus.
“As a Naturopathic Doctor, my COVID treatment success rate was 100% effective,” wrote Mazi in the court document. “I was helping people immunize against COVID-19 using a very safe and effective method, long before COVID vaccines became available,” adding that “no one” was hospitalized or died from her treatments.
The Department of Justice alleges that Mazi “instilled fear” and “spread misinformation.”
“Mazi’s fake health care records scheme endangered the health and well-being of students and the general public at a time when confidence in our public health system is of critical importance,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Stephanie Hinds said in a statement.
Mazi faces a maximum statutory prison sentence of 20 years for the wire fraud charge and five years for the false statements charge. In addition, each charge carries a maximum $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release, according to the DOJ.