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Lawyer Sends Threatening Email to Herself, Faces Criminal Charges

By William Vogeler, Esq. on July 20, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

People typically think of lawyers as either smart or slimey. Julie Ezell falls somewhere in between.

It's hard to say when Ezell started down the wrong track, but she was definitely going that way when she sent threatening emails to herself. Apparently, she was trying to create evidence to help in her job?

Not smart, but not really slimey. In any case, she was forced to resign and now faces criminal charges.

Self-Threats

Ezell was general counsel for the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She was working on regulations for the state's medical marijuana industry when she came up with the fake email idea.

That may be a clue about her train of thought. She allegedly posed as a medical marijuana advocate by the name of "MaryJane" in the emails.

"We will stop YOU and you're greed," she wrote to herself. "Any way it takes to end your evil and protect what is ours. We will watch you."

"We would hate to hurt a pretty lady," she added in email that went on for several days. Ezell forwarded the email to investigators, and that's where the wheels came off the train.

Weeded Out

It looked like Ezell was trying to undo regulations that she opposed. Over her objections, the health agency voted to ban the sale of smokeable marijuana and to require a pharmacist at every dispensary.

When the investigators figured it out, Ezell admitted her wrongdoing, apologized, and resigned. The district attorney charged her with felonious use of a computer, falsely reporting a crime and preparing false evidence.

"These charges do not reflect who she is as a person, nor do they reflect the type of advocate she has been for the people of the state of Oklahoma," her attorney, Ed Blau, said.

Whatever she is, it's clear Ezell wasn't good at email. She sent one of the fakes from an account that included her home address.

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