Woman Accused of Doing Illegal Breast Work

MANHATTAN (CN) - Federal prosecutors charged a Bronx woman with charging people thousands of dollars for illegal silicone injections for breast and buttocks "enhancement." Whalesca Castillo, 36, who is not a doctor, imported liquid silicone from the Dominican Republic and discouraged at least one woman from seeing a real doctor after she suffered complications, prosecutors said.

"She knew what she was doing was illegal, as she told one of her customers," an FBI agent said in a U.S. Attorney's Office statement announcing Castillo's arrest. "In her thirst for profit, she put lives in peril."

Castillo charged women more than $1,000 for "each round of shots" she gave them in her Bronx apartment, prosecutors said in the statement. "Risks associated with such injections include permanent lumps within the skin, infection, skin ulceration, and potentially fatal pulmonary blood clots."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Castillo "administered these injections in her Bronx home, telling women that the injections are safe, and charging them hundreds of dollars per injection. One woman, who paid Castillo $1,000 for injections, experienced pain and shortness of breath following the procedure, and fainted within hours of the procedure. After being revived by her boyfriend, the woman called Castillo to report her medical symptoms. Castillo discouraged the woman from seeking proper medical attention, saying that a hospital would not help her because the procedure was illegal."

Federal agents recovered more than 100 bottles in trash bags in Castillo's apartment, "some of which were tested and had silicone residue on them, syringes, needles, bloodied gauze, and dozens of tubes of Krazy Glue, which unlicensed practitioners sometimes use to seal puncture wounds," prosecutors said.

Castillo could be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison if convicted of distributing an adulterated product.

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