A Napa woman, the first person in the U.S. to face federal prosecution for selling fraudulent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 vaccination cards, has pleaded guilty to two federal charges that could carry a lengthy prison sentence.
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The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that Juli Mazi, a 41-year-old naturopathic doctor, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements related to health care matters. The latter carries a maximum of five years in federal prison, and the former a maximum of 20 years.
Mazi admitted to selling homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets – which she falsely claimed would provide lifelong protection against COVID-19 – and instructing customers how to falsify vaccination cards by making it appear they received the Moderna vaccine.
According to court documents, Mazi also sold pellets in place of the vaccinations required for children to attend school. She gave parents who purchased the pellets immunization cards that they submitted to schools, which falsely indicated they took the appropriate vaccines.
"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 Stephanie Hinds said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mazi was arrested last July, three months after a tipster first alerted the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General that Mazi was offering pellets she claimed would provide the user lifelong immunity against the coronavirus.
The complainant's family members had not received any of the three COVID-19 vaccines authorized, at the time, for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, but they told the tipster Mazi instructed them how to fill out the cards to make it appear they received the Moderna vaccine.
Mazi, according to a transcript of a phone call included in a criminal complaint last year, told the tipster that "even though it's more than an ethical stretch that I'm happy about, I am just stepping up to the plate to offer these" vaccine cards.
Federal investigators determined she sold fake proof of coronavirus vaccination to more than 200 people, and false school immunization records to more than 100. Officials said she used the pandemic as an opportunity to expand her business.
"As the government worked to provide accurate and relevant information during the pandemic, Mazi took advantage of the situation and chose to line her own pockets with profits from fraudulent vaccine documents and medicine, abusing the trust placed in her as a medical professional," Tim Stone, FBI Acting Special Agent In Charge, said in a statement.
Mazi will be sentenced on July 29. Each charge also carries a maximum $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
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