CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – A Brazilian woman charged with her ex-husband in a fatal liposuction procedure is expected to change her plea to guilty.
A change of plea hearing is scheduled today in Middlesex Superior Court for Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, according to a court calendar. She and her former husband, Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, are charged with manslaughter in the death of 24-year-old Fabiola DePaula of Framingham.
It could not immediately be determined whether Ana Ribeiro intends to plead guilty to the manslaughter charge or some other charge. Her lawyer, Michael Brennan, did not return telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday. Corey Welford, a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone, would not comment.
A plea change hearing is typically scheduled when a defendant wants to change a plea from not guilty to guilty. The Ribeiros had both previously pleaded not guilty.
Ana Ribeiro is accused of acting as a nurse for her ex-husband as he performed the surgery on July 30, 2006, in the basement of a Framingham condominium. DePaula died of complications from the surgery.
Luiz Carlos Ribeiro was licensed to practice medicine in Brazil, but not in the U.S.
When the state charge is resolved, federal authorities will take Ana Ribeiro into custody to face an immigration charge, said Mike Gilhooly, a spokesman for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Ana Ribeiro’s lawyer has said she was outside smoking a cigarette during the surgery and only came inside when she heard her husband yelling for help when something went wrong.
But prosecutors have said that several witnesses saw her wearing surgical gloves and helping her husband perform CPR on DePaula.
The case exposed an underground cosmetic-surgery network used by immigrants from Brazil, where plastic surgery is popular.
AP-ES-09-04-07 1804EDT
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