MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – Miami-Dade police arrested a Venezuelan man who they said administered a 28-year-old mom buttocks-enhancement injections before she died.
Jose Alfredo Robusto, 43, walked into jail early Saturday morning. Authorities said he pretended to be a doctor three years ago when he worked at Cuerpos Health and Aesthetics, 8410 W. Flagler Street.
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The Florida Department of Health shut the business down, after learning that although the owner, Ruth Planas, only had a permit to operate as a massage salon, she was marketing the business as a clinic.
Planas offered "lipo without surgery," "non-surgical facial lift," and treatments for "anti-cellulite," and "body toning." And in 2013, Suyima Torres fell into the trap.
She paid the clinic for a gluteus augmentation, which can require several injections. The mother of two paid $1,500 for the first session and $800 for the second, police said.
After the second treatment on April 11, 2013, Torres suffered a respiratory arrest due to a lung embolism, according to the Medical Examiners Office. She collapsed outside the clinic and died at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, according to an arrest report.
Prosecutors charged Robusto with manslaughter and practicing medicine without a license. His bond was set at $12,000.
According to his arrest report, Robusto has duel Venezuelan and Italian citizenships and fled the country after Torres died.
File: Jose Alfredo Robusto arrest form
He was arrested Friday upon arriving back in the U.S. He provided a sworn video-recorded confession to police, but denied injecting the victim the day she died, the report said.
Authorities said Robusto is considered a "severe flight risk."