Puyallup influencer ‘weaponized’ legal system to frame ex, charges say

A Pierce County woman with a large Instagram following accused her ex-boyfriend of sending her threatening emails, leading to his arrest. Prosecutors now say the woman actually sent those emails to herself.

Prosecutors charged Kristina Breann Ellis, 42, with three counts of stalking, two counts of malicious prosecution, 13 counts of first-degree criminal impersonation, first-degree perjury, obstruction a law enforcement officer, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, according to court records.

A plea of not guilty was entered on Ellis’ behalf during her arraignment Tuesday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set her bail at $1 million. Jail records show Ellis is in custody at the Pierce County Jail.

Prosecutors say that Ellis “weaponized the legal system to wreak havoc on multiple people’s lives.”

“She has perpetrated a fraud on our judicial system, the likes of which may have never been seen before in the State of Washington. Up until her arrest on January 8, 2026, it appears that Ms. Ellis was continuing her criminal behavior,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents. The case against Ellis

Detectives determined through their investigation that Ellis tried to frame her ex-boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend for harassment. She also allegedly impersonated the 16-year-old daughter of the pair.

When Ellis was in a relationship with the man, they both accused his previous girlfriend of making threats to kill them and harassing them in 2018. The child was allegedly used as a “conduit” for the threats, according to charging documents.

The woman was charged, but her case was dismissed with prejudice as the handwriting used in the threatening messages did not match hers. Her attorney believes Ellis sent herself those threats to frame the woman, documents show.

Documents state Ellis was in a relationship with the man for over 11 years. During that time, she accused him of domestic violence. The first incident was in July 2024 for verbal abuse. She also received a protection order against him for physical assault and verbal abuse, which expires next year.

Ellis alleged in March last year that the man sent her threatening emails, and she lived in fear he would follow through on his threats to harm her. Detectives wrote she is an influencer on various social-media platforms and alleged her ex-boyfriend was stalking her accounts. She accused him of manipulating the posts and overlaying threatening words on them, making her fearful of being in public, court records show.

“Her sphere of influence regards modified vehicles,” according to court records. “She herself has a modified Subaru BRZ, which is the subject of a lot of her posts.”

Ellis has over 58,000 followers on Instagram, according to a review by The News Tribune.

Ellis also said that her ex-boyfriend sent the messages through various email accounts. Some of the accounts used Proton Mail, which is based in Switzerland. Detectives learned that Proton will not share data with non-Swiss authorities. Documents show that Ellis told a detective she knew Proton Mail was untraceable.

The ex-boyfriend was arrested and charged on Dec. 11, 2025 for felony stalking, felony harassment, cyber harassment and violating a court order.

The ex-boyfriend has been out of custody on a $250,000 bond and on a GPS-monitoring device. According to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, his case likely will be dismissed following Ellis’ charges and his conditions of release have been waived.

Detectives also allege Ellis might have allegedly altered an image of her ex-boyfriend’s 16-year-old daughter to make it appear she had a black eye and cut on her face. This photo was sent to a high school counselor, who called the girl into her office. When the counselor noticed the girl did not have injuries to her face, she spoke to the ex-boyfriend. Both the ex-boyfriend and his daughter said that Ellis might have sent that photo, court records state. An intake was created by the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which found the claims to be unfounded.

Ellis also sent detectives a picture that she alleged came from her ex, according to charging documents. The photo was of him standing in front of a mirror. In one hand was a knife, in the other a paper that said, “I’m coming Tina.”

Detectives wrote in police reports at the time that the photo incited fear in Ellis.

In the charging documents against Ellis, detectives say that photo is significant now because, after seeing the altered photo of the child with a black eye, it made them realize Ellis had the ability to change or alter pictures and that Ellis had previously admitted to using AI to enhance photos of herself for her social media posts.

Ellis alleged she received another threatening email from her ex-boyfriend after he bonded out of the jail. The email promised to ruin her life as she did his, with derogatory language used.

There was another email with handwritten threats towards Ellis, which she claimed came from the ex-boyfriend’s daughter on Dec. 26, 2025. Statements such as, “we are watching you,” and, “my family is going to make sure you pay for what you did to my dad,” were written on physical copies of court documents in the ex-boyfriend’s legal case, according to charging documents.

Documents show the same day that email was sent, a DCYF worker told a prosecutor the child’s mother accused the ex-boyfriend of being in contempt of family law court orders. Those messages were written on physical copies of court documents from the ex-boyfriend’s criminal case and accused him of still being a danger. Prosecutors noted the handwriting on the court orders appeared to be the same as the threatening messages the woman was accused of writing to Ellis and her ex-boyfriend in 2018.

Detectives learned through records that Ellis was the only one to purchase or download the court documents that the child and woman allegedly used to write messages on them, according to charging documents. Search of Ellis’ home

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Ellis’ home, so they could seize items including her electronic devices and physical documents, such as court orders regarding the ex-boyfriend’s harassment case. When police went to her home, Ellis was upset and called her attorney, charging documents show.

Documents show that when Ellis realized her electronics would be seized, she pleaded that her children’ phones and computers not be removed.

During the search, detectives were reportedly alarmed to find a paper document that had different handwriting variations with two phrases. One of the phrases was, “My name is Maddie.” That phrase was reportedly written in one of the threatening messages sent to Ellis, according to charging documents.

Other documents were found indicating that someone was trying to impersonate the woman, documents show. There was also a paper found where someone had been trying to write the ex-boyfriend’s last name three times. Detectives wrote it appeared the writing matched the same writing from the email that DCYF received.

Ellis was arrested and was evaluated at a hospital after she suffered a panic attack. She was then booked into the jail, documents show.

Detectives learned from a Sheriff’s Office detective there were 10 reports made by Ellis against her ex-boyfriend through the Sheriff’s Office between August and November 2024. The ex-boyfriend was arrested once but never charged for sending alleged threatening emails to Ellis. A detective believed Ellis fabricated the emails to frame her ex-boyfriend.

Ellis does not have any previous criminal convictions, according to court records.