An Orange County man who allegedly restarted his illegal cosmetic surgery practice less than two weeks after being released from prison was arraigned on Wednesday, and his trial is scheduled to begin on May 8.
Elias Renteria Segoviano, 63, faces two felony counts of unauthorized practice of medicine and a misdemeanor count of falsely representing himself as a licensed medical practitioner.
According to prosecutors, Segoviano targeted Spanish-speaking women and used multiple variations of his name to avoid detection by authorities.
In January, he tried to sublet a Brea commercial space and applied for a business license, just days after his Dec. 22 release from prison, the Orange County District Attorney said.
That prison sentence came after he pleaded guilty to 15 felonies in April 2023: 13 counts of unauthorized practice of medicine, one count of false indication of a medical license and one count of perjury.
Victims who spoke with KTLA said they encountered issues like problems blinking and a collapsing eyebrow after paying Segoviano thousands.
“I’m embarrassed. I don’t go out anymore, I don’t see my friends anymore. I was prettier before I walked in his office and now I’m fighting to get my old looks back,” said a woman who asked to only be identified as Monica.
“This man walked the walk and talked the talk of being a licensed medical professional, but he was anything but what he pretended to be,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a release. “These women trusted this individual to have the training and the expertise required to perform these medical procedures, and instead they unknowingly put their very lives in the hands of someone who was never licensed to perform the kind of work he was doing. The fact that he was out of prison less than two weeks – and while under supervision – when he returned right back to a life of crime makes it painfully obvious that he has no intention of changing his behavior and he will continue to try to make money off unsuspecting women every chance that he gets.”