FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) – A Brazilian doctor and his wife who are accused of manslaughter in the death of a 24-year-old woman during illegal liposuction surgery pleaded not guilty Friday.
Luiz Carlos Ribeiro and Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro were ordered held on $250,000 bail and $50,000 bail, respectively, the same amounts on which they were ordered held last month after their arraignment on unauthorized practice of medicine and drug charges.
The next court date was scheduled for Sept. 27.
An attorney for Luiz Ribeiro, Jeanne Earley, said during the arraignment at Framingham District Court that her client was a doctor in Brazil and had come to Massachusetts to visit his two daughters, one of whom had just had a baby. The Rieberos are from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
After the arraignment, Earley said that, as a doctor who cares in general about patients, Ribeiro was upset by the July 30 death of Fabiola DePaula of Framingham. Earley also said her client hasn’t seen his wife since their previous court date. Both remain in custody.
“He is feeling terrible,” she said.
Jacque Foster, a friend of DePaula, attended the arraignment so DePaula would be represented. She said DePaula’s mother was too devastated to come to court.
“(The Ribeiros) have to pay for the crime they committed,” she said. “My friend is gone.”
Prosecutors said Luiz Ribeiro performed liposuction on DePaula on a massage table in the basement of a condominium in Framingham. Authorities believe his wife assisted in the surgery and administered drugs used in the procedure.
The condominium’s owner, Ana Celia Pena Sielemenn, 40, of Framingham, was charged with distributing illegal narcotics to people undergoing plastic surgery. She pleaded not guilty at her Aug. 1 arraignment and was ordered held on $25,000 bail.
Prosecutors say DePaula underwent plastic surgery to her nose by Ribeiro a few days before the liposuction and paid a total of $3,300 for the two procedures, much less than what those surgeries typically cost.
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