Judge rejects guilty plea in fatal liposuction case
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)
A trial for Luiz Carlos Ribeiro is slated to start April 3.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
CAMBRIDGE -- A judge rejected a guilty plea today by a Brazilian doctor accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 24-year-old woman after an illegal liposuction procedure in a Framingham basement.
After listening to the doctor describe the woman’s death, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Wendie Gershengorn said she did not believe that prosecutors had proved that he had been reckless enough to support the guilty plea. Instead, Gershengorn ordered a trial for Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, which is slated to start April 3.
When asked by the judge whether Ribeiro thought he was guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he said through a translator that he believed she would have died anywhere in the world the procedure had been performed. The operation only required local anesthetic, and the equipment that Ribeiro had on hand for the surgery included an autoclave to sterilize surgical tools, an oxygen meter, and adrenaline.
“I would never kill,” Ribeiro said. “Her death was so sudden. I had no chance to do anything.”
The judge said she understood why Ribeiro would want to plead guilty and put the case behind him. She said, however, that the story he told shows that he does not believe he committed involuntary manslaughter.
“I can’t accept this plea,” Gershengorn said.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerald T. Leone defended the case.
"We allege that Luiz Carlos Ribeiro recklessly put the life of Fabiola DePaula in great danger by performing this illegal procedure without the proper equipment, medications, or safeguards - ultimately resulting in her tragic death.,” Leone said in a statement. “The fact that this defendant could not accept the facts as alleged today means that we will now proceed to trial. We are confident that we have a strong case against the defendant and intend to prove that case in court."
Ribeiro was a doctor in his native Brazil but does not have a medical license in the United States. His wife, Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, 50, pleaded guilty in September to one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of distributing a class A substance.
The death brought to light the growing underground of illegal medical procedures quietly being performed in the immigrant community.
DePaula received illegal narcotics during the procedure and died at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham. An autopsy showed that DePaula died from intraoperative complications from a liposuction procedure.
Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro pleaded guilty five months after her lawyers attempted to have charges against her dismissed, saying she did not assist in the surgery and was not in the room when the operation was performed.
DePaula had undergone plastic surgery on her nose by Ribeiro a few days before the liposuction and had paid a total of $3,300 for the two procedures, prosecutors alleged.
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