A woman who performed unlicensed abortions on 16 women, sometimes without anesthesia, has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
Bertha Pinedo Bugarin wept and expressed remorse as she was sentenced Friday in Los Angeles. She had pleaded no contest to the charges. Bugarin pleaded guilty to similar charges in San Diego last month and could face an additional nine-year sentence.
Bugarin, 49, was an office manager who ran six family planning clinics in Southern California, including one in Chula Vista. Prosecutors say she had no medical training but posed as a doctor. She was arrested in June after a yearlong investigation by Chula Vista police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities there say some patients suffered serious problems after botched abortions. One of Bugarin's patients suffered complications from a procedure and had to be hospitalized twice, prosecutors said. She eventually delivered a baby who died three hours later.
Bugarin's sister was convicted of similar charges and sentenced last month to probation and community service.
