Juli Mazi, the non-MD naturopath who misled patients during the pandemic into believing that vaccines are "toxic" and she'd made her own natural pellet versions, has been sentenced to three years.
In one of the kookier local stories to come out of the COVID-19 era, Napa-based Dr. Juli Mazi, ND, was brought up on federal charges last year as she was found to be selling phony vaccination cards to her patients — along with what she called "homeoprophylaxis" pellets that would confer "lifelong immunity" to COVID-19. Mazi reportedly raked in over $220,000 between January 2020 and May 2021, selling her $243 COVID immunity kits and fake vaxx cards before federal authorities came a-callin'.
Federal prosecutors had a fair bit of evidence, including partially filled-out vaccination records with fake Moderna batch numbers on them, and the instruction sheets Mazi would give to patients along with the pellets — which reportedly made some people sick as well. And investigators also found evidence that Mazi had been selling fake vaccine cards for schoolchildren as well, allowing anti-vaxxer California parents to enroll their kids in public schools where certain vaccinations are required.
On the advice of counsel whom she would later fire, Mazi pleaded guilty in April 2022. But then she made an attempt to retract her plea in August, foolishly trying to challenge U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer (the brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer) during a hearing, while acting as her own attorney.
"There were no laws broken," Mazi said in her motion to vacate her plea. "Can you provide the laws that allow you to disregard the procedures that a naturopathic doctor is licensed to administer?"
Breyer swiftly shut this down, denying Mazi's motion to vacate her plea.
(To be clear, Mazi has a "doctorate" from National University of Natural Medicine in Portland. California does have a licensing program for naturopathic doctors and there's a state committee overseeing this. And as Wikipedia puts it, "While some schools exist for naturopaths, and some jurisdictions allow such practitioners to call themselves doctors, the lack of accreditation, scientific medical training and quantifiable positive results means they lack the competency of true medical doctors.")
Judge Breyer handed down a 33-month sentence to Mazi on Tuesday, as the Associated Press reports. She'll now have to report to the Bureau of Prisons shortly after the new year.
In the meantime, her website is still live, and it looks like she's still giving $25 vitamin B12 shots at locations in Rocklin and Roseville on Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively. She's also taking appointments for new patients, and she offers house calls "for those within a 20 minute driving radius of California" — whatever that means!
