Man Pleads Guilty In Relation To Fatal Buttocks Injection Scheme
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A man has pleaded guilty in relation to a deadly scheme in which he sold industrial grade silicone buttocks injections to customers, but told them it was medical grade silicone.
Vinnie Lysander Taylor, who was not a licensed medical practitioner, admitted that from at least 2008 through December 2014, he performed the procedures in hotel rooms in Prince George's County, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Arlington, Virginia, and elsewhere.
He charged between $800 and $1,000 for the initial injections and between $350 and $800 for subsequent injections.
In Maryland, between 2012 and 2014, Taylor administered the injections to more than 10 individuals, representing to each victim that he used medical grade silicone and that it was safe. He actually used polydimethylsiloxane, a common silicone product used in foods, lubricating oils, sealants and shampoos.
According to the plea, he typically injected silicone in nine locations on each side of the buttocks, then covered the points of injection with super glue and cotton balls.
On March 20, 2014, after one of Taylor's victims left the Maryland hotel where she received her injection, she began having breathing difficulties. On March 22, she checked herself into the hospital and two days later, she died.
An autopsy determined that the cause of death was acute and chronic respiratory failure due to a foreign substance causing a pulmonary embolization. The medical examiner ruled the manner of death to be a homicide. A clear viscous fluid removed from her buttocks during the autopsy was determined to be polydimethylsiloxane.
As part of his plea agreement, the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office dismissed first degree murder charges which were pending against Taylor.
Taylor, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement Taylor will be sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for August 19.
According to the agreement, from approximately 2008 through December 2, 2014, Taylor purchased 152 gallons of food grade liquid silicone between 2008 and 2014, equating to 3,196 sessions. At $500 per treatment, proceeds from the illegal injections total at least $1,598,000.
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