3 indicted in Mass. basement liposuction death

updated 9:43 a.m. ET Oct. 26, 2006

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A Brazilian doctor and his wife have been indicted on manslaughter charges stemming from the death of a 24-year-old woman during a liposuction surgery in a condominium basement.

A grand jury also indicted Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, 49, on charges of practicing medicine without a license and drug counts Tuesday. Ribeiro’s wife, Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, 49, also was charged with drug distribution.

The owner of the home, Ana Celia Pena Sielemann, 41, was charged with being an accessory before and after the fact of manslaughter and two drug counts. She had previously faced only the drug charges.

Authorities have said that Fabiola DePaula, who was also from Brazil, died on July 30 after undergoing a liposuction by Luiz Ribeiro on a massage table in Sielemann’s basement. According to the autopsy report, DePaula died of complications from the procedure, including pulmonary fat emboli, or fat particles in the lungs.

Maria Ribeiro is accused of aiding her husband during the surgery. Neither is licensed in the state to practice medicine.

Authorities believe Luiz Ribeiro performed liposuction, nose jobs and Botox injections for three years in the Framingham area, mostly for the town’s large Brazilian immigrant population and mostly for cash.

The district attorney has said Ribeiro was licensed to practice medicine in Brazil, but his specialty was not cosmetic surgery.

A warrant has been issued for Sielemann, who was deported in September.

Calls to attorneys for the Ribeiros were not immediately returned. Kevin Leeper, who represented Sielemann on the earlier charges, declined to comment.

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