Whalesca Castillo: Fake plastic surgeon who ran clinic out of her Bronx apartment sentenced for fatal butt injection

Whalesca Castillo, a black-market plastic surgeon, has been sentenced to state prison for botched butt lifts that costed life of one
UPDATED FEB 23, 2024
Whalesca Castillo convicted of illegally injecting victim with silicone (NBC New York video screengrab)
Whalesca Castillo convicted of illegally injecting victim with silicone (NBC New York video screengrab)

BRONX, NEW YORK: A black-market plastic surgeon who operated an illicit cosmetic clinic lived in an apartment in Bronx.

She was sentenced to state prison on Thursday, February 22, for performing botched butt lifts that resulted in the death of one woman and the injury of another.

Whalesca Castillo, 49, was given a sentence of four to eight years in prison for using a deadly silicon injection to kill a 48-year-old woman in 2018 and seriously injuring a 39-year-old that required surgery, according to Bronx prosecutors.

Whalesca Castillo convicted of illegally injecting victim with silicon

“The defendant illegally injected the victim with a silicone substance for cosmetic purposes,” according to a statement from Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. “Tragically, the injections killed the victim," according to New York Post.

“The defendant also performed a dangerous cosmetic procedure that left another woman with substantial pain,” Clark went on to say.

He further added, “These cases hopefully will serve as a warning to the public to not undergo unauthorized procedures that can gravely threaten their health or even cause death.”

Castillo already had a history of botched cosmetic procedures; in 2011, she was busted for using dubious silicone that she received in the mail from friends in her native Dominican Republic to perform illegal boob and booty jobs inside her Mount Eden apartment for as much as $1,500 a pop.

She was imprisoned for nine months in 2014 after completing the procedures while on supervised release after serving nearly a year in jail in 2012 for the illegal plastic surgery operations.

Lesbia Ayala died from silicone embolism syndrome

Prosecutors claim that Castillo returned to her past behavior in February 2018, injecting Marisol King with the dubious silicone, causing her to suffer from excruciating pain in her thighs and buttocks as well as a widespread infection.

Lesbia Ayala was fatally injected on June 17, 2018, by an unlicensed plastic surgeon during another unlawful procedure. The DA claimed that Ayala passed away from a systemic silicone embolism syndrome.

Following his arrest in 2019, Castillo was charged with manslaughter and assault. On December 18, he entered a guilty plea in both cases, and on Thursday, the Bronx Supreme Court sentenced him.

In accordance with the DA's office, she was given a concurrent sentence of four to eight years for the manslaughter charge and three years for the assault charge. 

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