Posted 3:32 pm Friday, August 31, 2012
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Woman gets 2 prison terms for practicing medicine without a license
A former Tyler salon owner was sentenced Friday to 10-year and eight-year prison terms after pleading guilty to two charges of practicing medicine without a license, admitting that she injected a gel substance into women seeking breast and buttock augmentations.
Carmel “C.C.” Foster, 39, of Tyler, was the owner of Queen Divas Hair Salon, at 102 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Ms. Foster pleaded guilty July 31 to two counts of practicing medicine without a license, third-degree felonies that each carry punishment ranges of probation or two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
After witnesses testified today, she was sentenced to the two prison terms by Smith County 7th District Judge Kerry Russell. The judge ordered that Ms. Foster serve the terms consecutively. She will eligible for parole in four and a half years. The judge also ordered a $10,000 fine on each charge, as well as about $10,000 in restitution, for medical bills incurred by the victims, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance said.
One woman Ms. Foster treated with the injections was hospitalized in Longview in February and placed on a ventilator because of a pneumothorax, a buildup of air and blood in the lungs.
In an arrest affidavit prepared by Tyler police Detective Andy Erbaugh, the victim said as Ms. Foster performed the procedure, which consisted of injecting 12 syringes full of a clear gel substance into her body, she felt severe pain and shortness of breath.
“She stated her breast immediately swelled up and the gel began pouring out of the needle holes. She stated the suspect put super glue on the hole and placed a cotton swab on the super glue,” the affidavit said.
Ms. Foster told the women she was working under the direction of a doctor in Houston and was using a saline solution gel in the procedures, according to the affidavit.
A second victim told police in February that she developed a rash around the injection site and was under a physician's care. The women said the procedure was done in a back room on a couch full of laundry. The second woman also told police that she paid $600 for a half job and that her cousin paid $800 for a full job.
According to a search warrant, items seized by police from the Queen Divas salon included volumes of needles and syringes of various sizes, packages of Krazy Glue, rubber gaskets, latex gloves, cyclobenzaprine (a muscle relaxer), pseudoephedrine (sinus medication), methylprednisolone (a corticosteroid drug), surgical tape, a bloody cotton ball, a jar with unknown substance and an open tube of Gasket Maker Super Clear silicone.
For years, Ms. Foster helped cancer patients and survivors by giving away free haircuts, makeovers, manicures, weaves and custom-made wigs at her shop's annual, 24-hour Day of Glamorous Divas. Her own sister died two days after the age of 18, which prompted her to give back to others, according to earlier reports.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance prosecuted Ms. Foster while O.W. “Buddy” Lloyd was her defense attorney.
Updated Friday, August 31, 2012 at 3:33 p.m. CDT
One woman Ms. Foster treated with the injections was hospitalized in Longview in February and placed on a ventilator because of a pneumothorax, a buildup of air and blood in the lungs.
In an arrest affidavit prepared by Tyler police Detective Andy Erbaugh, the victim said as Ms. Foster performed the procedure, which consisted of injecting 12 syringes full of a clear gel substance into her body, she felt severe pain and shortness of breath.
“She stated her breast immediately swelled up and the gel began pouring out of the needle holes. She stated the suspect put super glue on the hole and placed a cotton swab on the super glue,” the affidavit said.
Ms. Foster told the women she was working under the direction of a doctor in Houston and was using a saline solution gel in the procedures, according to the affidavit.
A second victim told police in February that she developed a rash around the injection site and was under a physician's care. The women said the procedure was done in a back room on a couch full of laundry. The second woman also told police that she paid $600 for a half job and that her cousin paid $800 for a full job.
According to a search warrant, items seized by police from the Queen Divas salon included volumes of needles and syringes of various sizes, packages of Krazy Glue, rubber gaskets, latex gloves, cyclobenzaprine (a muscle relaxer), pseudoephedrine (sinus medication), methylprednisolone (a corticosteroid drug), surgical tape, a bloody cotton ball, a jar with unknown substance and an open tube of Gasket Maker Super Clear silicone.
For years, Ms. Foster helped cancer patients and survivors by giving away free haircuts, makeovers, manicures, weaves and custom-made wigs at her shop's annual, 24-hour Day of Glamorous Divas. Her own sister died two days after the age of 18, which prompted her to give back to others, according to earlier reports.
Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance prosecuted Ms. Foster while O.W. “Buddy” Lloyd was her defense attorney.
Updated Friday, August 31, 2012 at 3:33 p.m. CDT
