Alleged fake plastic surgeon indicted after death of woman while trying to remove implants
QUEENS, New York (WABC) -- A man accused of posing as a plastic surgeon has been indicted on manslaughter charges after a woman he operated on died after an implant removal.
Felipe Hoyos-Foronda, 38, was arraigned on second-degree manslaughter charges in the death of 31-year-old Maria Penaloza, a mother of two. On Monday, a judge ordered him held without bail.
Officials say Hoyos-Foronda performed the cosmetic surgery to remove implants from her buttocks without a license in his Astoria home.
Hoyos-Foronda is alleged to have given the victim lidocaine, a local anesthetic, and saline through a syringe during a procedure to remove her butt implants which were causing her pain. Penaloza became lightheaded and Hoyos-Foronda administered an IV and called 911 when she did not improve.
Penaloza went into cardiac arrest and died 14 days later.
"As alleged, Felipe Hoyos Foronda provided an unlicensed medical treatment at a make-shift home clinic in Astoria that led to a 31-year-old woman's death," said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. "On March 28, the victim went into cardiac arrest after having been injected with lidocaine as part of a botched surgical procedure. Unfortunately, Maria Penaloza, a mother of two, passed away two weeks later. My thoughts are with the victim's family as we seek justice on her behalf."
Hoyos-Foronda was arrested last month at the airport. Police said he was trying to flee to Colombia.
He allegedly told police he had done this procedure hundreds of times at the makeshift medical office in his Queens apartment and he panicked.
On Monday, outside of court, the victim's family spoke of Penaloza.
They said she was so cheerful and the glue of the family.
Her sister remembers their last phone call in which she told Penaloza she had a bad feeling about the procedure.
They never spoke again.
The procedure cost $1900, and the defendant advertised on social media.
Officials are asking anyone who may have used the defendant's services or visited the makeshift medical office on 35th Street in Astoria to contact NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Penaloza would have turned 32 next week.
Her family is hoping for justice and says the second-degree murder charge isn't enough.
The defendant pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years in prison.
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