Patient of 'Fake' Plastic Surgeon Died After 'Botched' Butt Implant Removal Surgery: DA

News By TooFab Staff |
AP

The unlicensed man, who was indicted on manslaughter charges, allegedly performed the operation in his apartment ... and admitted he "panicked" and fled to the airport after the victim went into cardiac arrest.

A New York man who allegedly admitted to performing an unlicensed procedure inside his Queens apartment has now been indicted on manslaughter charges, after the patient died following what the DA is calling a "botched" implant removal.

On Monday, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Felipe Hoyos Foronda was indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter, assault and unauthorized practice of a profession for allegedly performing cosmetic surgery without a license in his home.

The victim is 31-year-old Maria Penaloza, a mother of two, who died 14 days after she was allegedly left without a pulse at his apartment.

Per Katz, citing the investigation, Penaloza arrived at Foronda's apartment on March 28 to have her silicone butt implants removed. After his arrest, per prosecutors via NY Post, Foronda told police he had been practicing  for "a few months" at his apartment, despite not being a licensed doctor; he also said he had done this specific procedure "hundreds of times" and that "word of mouth has given me my business."

Prosecutors say he then gave the victim lidocaine, a local anesthetic, and saline through a syringe -- with Foronda reportedly telling police, "I injected her in the ass."

"After I injected her, she started to speak funny, then she stopped speaking, and then she tensed up," he said, claimed prosecutors. "Slurred speech is normal during this type of anesthesia ... even though, after she tightened up, she didn't respond."

Prosecutors say he called 911 when "she did not improve" after administering an IV. While she was allegedly "unconscious on a medical chair" when first responders arrived, Foronda high-tailed it to the airport -- allegedly telling cops, "I panicked, I went straight to the airport. I booked the flight while I was driving."

He was apprehended at a Starbucks at JFK airport, where he allegedly planned to board a flight for Florida and, ultimately, Colombia.

Penaloza, meanwhile, had "no sign of brain activity" when EMTs got to the scene. Per Lasak, she "was pulseless and she wasn't breathing" -- and "went approximately two hours without a pulse, and the damage to her body was irreversible." The victim was removed from life support on April 11.

Foronda is being held without bail and is due back in court on June 3. Per the DA, if convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Outside court, the victim's sister reportedly said she told Penaloza she had a bad feeling about the procedure -- which Foronda allegedly advertised on social media for $1,900 -- in their last phone call.