CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts judge rejected a Brazilian doctor's offer to plead guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of a woman who died during liposuction.
Luiz Carlos Ribeiro insisted in a statement to Middlesex Superior Court Judge Wendie Gershengorn that his reckless conduct did not cause the death of Fabiola DePaula, the Boston Globe reported. He performed the procedure in 2006 in a makeshift clinic set up in the basement of a Framingham condominium.
Ribeiro, who spoke through a Portuguese interpreter, said he wants to get back to Brazil after coming to the United States more than a year ago for what was to be a 15-day stay.
The trial is scheduled to begin in April. If Ribeiro is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Ribeiro's wife, Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, pleaded to involuntary manslaughter and received a one-year sentence. The owner of the condo, Ana Celia Sielemann, was charged along with the Ribeiros but was then deported without trial.
