| Breast augmentation victim awarded $4.6 million |
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| Thursday, 21 December 2006 | |
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"I always thought he was an actual doctor," Bernal said, referring to Reinaldo Silvestre. Silvestre fled the US in 1999 and took refuge in Belize. He was only brought to justice as a result of being spotted in 2004 by a US tourist who remembered him from an episode of the TV show "America's Most Wanted". He was subsequently convicted of aggravated battery, grand theft and practicing medicine without a licence and received a prison term of seven years, with a further thirty years of probation. He had faced a sentence of up to forty five years in prison, but received a lower sentence because of a plea bargain. When arrested in Belize, Silvestre was teaching medicine. Silvestre operated the Ocean Health Center in Miami Beach, and offered suspiciously low rates, dealing primarily with immigrants. He was charging just $2,000 for a breast augmentation procedure, compared to the normal going rate of $5,000. In addition to the disfigurement of Bernal, Silvestre was accused of using female breast implants on a body builder and former Mr. Mexico, Alexander Baez, who sought surgery to achieve pumped up pectoral muscles. "So this big bodybuilder from Mexico wakes up from this surgery expecting to look like Tarzan and instead he looks like Pamela Anderson or Dolly Parton," said Spencer Aronfeld, a lawyer representing some of Silvestre's victims. Bernal's legal team now faces the battle of actually recovering the settlement funds from Silvestre, and will be working to uncover any assets that he may have, focusing on the lavish lifestyle he reportedly enjoyed while a fugitive in Belize. |
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