Friday, September 22, 2017

September 20, 2017: Miami-Dade Resident Sentenced to More Than 4 Years in Prison for Managing a Miami Spa Performing Illicit Silicone Injections

U.S. Department of Justice Press Release

 
For Immediate Release
September 20, 2017
United States Department of Justice
Southern District of Florida
Benjamin G. Greenberg, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Justin D. Green, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI), Miami Field Office; Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office; and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), announced the fifty-six month prison sentence imposed upon Magaly Del Rosario for managing a Miami spa which performed illicit silicone injections.  
On July 6, 2017, Del Rosario previously pled guilty for her participation in a conspiracy and delivery for pay of an adulterated and misbranded device received in interstate commerce with the intent to defraud and mislead.  Yesterday, United States District Judge Kathleen M. Williams sentenced Del Rosario to 50 months in prison for the conspiracy, to be followed by 6 months in prison for the remaining count of conviction.  In addition, Del Rosario was sentenced to three years of supervised release. A restitution hearing has been scheduled for December 1, 2017.     

According to the court record, including an agreed upon factual statement, Del Rosario and her co-defendant, Maribel Jimenez (who previously pled guilty and was sentenced on August 29, 2017, to 79 months in prison), conspired from 2008 through August 2015 to receive and deliver an adulterated and misbranded “medical device” for pay which consisted of silicone used illegally for body contouring injections.  Del Rosario further admitted to having assisted Jimenez, in unlawfully injecting this substance into hundreds of clients seeking buttocks augmentation at Bella Beauty Spa (“Bella Beauty”), a business owned by Jimenez and located at 8360 West Flagler Street in Miami.  The silicone was unlawfully smuggled into the United States from Colombia throughout the period of the criminal conspiracy by means of multiple DHL deliveries of bottles falsely labeled as containing depilatory wax.

During the course of the criminal conduct, Del Rosario “repeatedly and consistently” informed Bella Beauty’s clients that they would be injected with a substance that was safe, non-permanent and capable of being absorbed by the body over time,” while she “knew this not to be the case.”  Del Rosario and Jimenez falsely claimed that the substance was hydrogel, hyaluronic acid, Juvederm, Restylane, or other such absorbable, time-limited substances.  They did not inform clients that the dermal filler material was in fact silicone, a permanent substance known to be harmful if injected into the human body.  The potentially dangerous and harmful health risks that could result from the injection of the illicit silicone include: the potential of injection into a blood vessel resulting in embolism, migration of injected silicone to other bodily regions, infection and infection-related disorders, silicone-filled scar tissue formations (“granulomas”) caused by the body’s attempt to encapsulate such a foreign substance, necrosis, skin discoloration, immune system hyperactivity and related adverse systemic conditions, disfigurement, discomfort, and pain.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigative efforts of FDA-OCI, ICE-HSI and MDPD.  Mr. Greenberg thanked U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Colombian National Police for their assistance. This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Outerbridge and Miesha Darrough.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

Component(s): 
USAO - Florida, Southern  quoted from https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/CriminalInvestigations/ucm576836.htm

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