Plea deal in bogus doctor referrals

An unlicensed cosmetologist who referred women to a bogus doctor for plastic surgery has reached a plea bargain with California prosecutors.

Minh Ly Utley pleaded no contest Monday to 11 felony and misdemeanor charges including battery, drug distribution and the unlicensed practice of medicine, reported the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News Tuesday.

At sentencing, Utley faces up to five years in prison, however, the plea agreement allowed Utley to avoid up to 14 years in prison.

Utley, who ran a beauty salon that advertised facials, Botox injections and breast augmentation in Vietnamese-language publications, referred at least two clients to Nguyen Nhu Quang, a supposed doctor, for plastic surgery, said Deputy District Attorney Ann Huntley.

Quang performed an eyelid lift operation on one of the women that caused one of her lower eyelids to droop exposing her eye to infection and mutilated the breasts of a young woman, prosecutors said.

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