Woman pleads guilty to sending herself threatening emails

OKLAHOMA CITY — The former top lawyer for the Oklahoma State Department of Health has pleaded guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanor counts over sending bogus threatening emails to herself.

Julia Ezell made headlines when she pretended to be the target of an angry marijuana advocate.

At the time, Ezell was helping the agency draft rules on medical marijuana that had just been approved by Oklahoma voters.

The misdemeanor counts accuse Ezell of using a computer to violate the law and falsely reporting a crime.

Ezell was initially charged in 2018 with two felonies.

Under a deferred-sentence plea deal, Ezell received five years of probation and was ordered to pay restitution for the cost of the criminal investigation.