A fake Dallas dentist and his assistant who took advantage of people without dental insurance were arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license. Police were tipped by a woman who was tortured while five teeth were pulled at her home.
Mario Alberto Sabillon-Mejia, 33, was taken into custody on Wednesday along with assistant Tiffany Gonzalez after the two offered dental services in Dallas and Houston,
reported the Dallas Morning News. Police said there could be as many as 50 victims in the two cities.
Sabillon-Mejia, who is believed to be undocumented and from Honduras, remained in the Dallas County Jail on $105,000 bail. Gonzalez posted her $3,500 bail on Thursday and was released.
Sabillon-Mejia and Gonzalez also face two misdemeanor counts of possessing dangerous drugs
"We think he was just getting his experience by practicing on people," Dallas Police Lt. Tony Crawford told
WFAA-TV.
Dallas resident Erika Martinez brought Sabillon-Mejia to the attention of authorities when he and Gonzalez arrived at her home on May 18 to perform a dental procedure after she suffered a toothache.
Martinez said she learned about Sabillon-Mejia from a Facebook friend who passed along his phone number. She said Sabillon-Mejia identified himself as a dentist when he and Gonzalez arrived at her home.
Sabillon-Mejia pulled five teeth in what Martinez described as a bloody, painful experience in which she begged him to stop after over "an hour or two."
"The truth is, it felt like it lasted years," Martinez told WFAA-TV through an interpreter. "It was horrible pain. Very traumatic."
Crawford said Martinez suffered through infection and bleeding problems after paying Sabillon-Mejia $500.
"She finally decided that she needed to report this," said Crawford. "Obviously, anytime you practice medicine without license and you don't know what you're doing, you're going to cause people irreparable harm or even death."
Martinez told authorities the only reason she turned to Sabillon-Mejia was because she did not have dental insurance to pay $9,000 to fix her teeth at a local clinic.
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