By Norman Miller, MetroWest Daily News
Wed Sep 05, 2007, 04:44 PM EDT

CAMBRIDGE -
A Brazilian woman admitted yesterday she helped her husband perform illegal, fatal liposuction surgery in a Framingham basement last year, and was sentenced to a year in prison with one month to serve.

Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro, 50, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to manslaughter and two counts of the illegal distribution of a Class A substance.

Judge Wendie Gershengorn sentenced her to one year in state prison. Ribeiro has one more month to serve because she gets credit for her time served in state custody. She will then be released to the custody of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency because that agency has a detainer warrant to hold Ribeiro.

Ribeiro’s husband, Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, 50, is also facing charges for the July 30, 2006, death of Fabiola B. DePaula, who was 24. He has pleaded not guilty.

“Fabiola DePaula died all too young because this defendant recklessly placed her in unnecessary danger Ä performing an invasive procedure without the proper equipment, medications or safeguards in the event something went wrong,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said in a statement.

“By pleading guilty today, Ana Maria Ribeiro has finally admitted her responsibility for the victim’s tragic death, and we will continue to move forward with our case against the other defendant.”

The Ribeiros were arrested on July 31, the day after DePaula died at the MetroWest Medical Center’s Framingham Union campus. Authorities said the Ribeiros rushed DePaula to the hospital after she stopped breathing during the surgery, performed on a massage table in the basement of 201 Bishop Drive, prosecutor Lee Hettinger said.

Luiz Ribeiro made several incisions into DePaula and injected her with lidocaine, a topical anesthetic, and Rohypnol, a sedative, respectively. Ana Maria Ribeiro was acting as the nurse.

“There was a negative reaction to the incisions and the medicines injected and (DePaula) started deteriorating rapidly,” Hettinger said. “There was no equipment in that apartment that could be used to address any complications.”

The following day, Ana Celia Pena Sielemann of 201 Bishop Drive, Framingham, was arrested. She was also charged with several drug distribution charges. Authorities say she hosted the Ribeiros and allowed them to perform the surgeries in her basement. She also recruited patients, Hettinger said.

Sielemann has since been deported to Brazil, but both Ribeiros have been held in state custody.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled DePaula died from “intra-operative complications” including a pulmonary fat emboli that occurred during the liposuction surgery.

The pulmonary fat emboli is liquid fat getting caught in the lungs, and Hettinger said experts said the emboli could have been detected early enough to save DiPaula if a licensed anesthesiologist had been present.

After Hettinger gave his version of events, Gershengorn asked if Ribeiro contested anything he said.

“How it happened was just that way,” she said.

Gershengorn then asked why she was pleading guilty.

“Because I really am guilty,” Ribeiro said.

State sentencing guidelines say someone convicted of involuntary manslaughter should serve 3« to five years in prison, but Hettinger requested six to eight years for what he said were “aggravating factors.”

“They were taking advantage of the Brazilian community and the knowledge that members of the Brazilian community undergo these procedures with regularity,” Hettinger said.

He also said the Ribeiros pressured patients into having the surgeries, and came to the United States with the money-making scheme.

None of DiPaula’s family members were present in court to present victim impact statements. That is because her mother was too devastated to remain in the country, Hettinger said.

“DiPaula was her best friend and only daughter and was the only reason she was in the United States,” he said.

Defense lawyer Michael Brennan argued his client, who is now divorced from Luiz Ribeiro, originally only came to the United States to visit her daughter who had just given birth to a grandchild, and she was upset at her husband for putting her in a position to have to assist with the surgery.

“She didn’t want to be involved,” said Brennan. “Nothing this court does can punish her more than she punishes herself every day.”

After the judge’s ruling, Brennan said, “It’s a sad case. It’s a tragedy for everyone involved. There are no winners here.”

Luiz Carlos Ribeiro is still awaiting trial. He is scheduled for a final pretrial conference on Oct. 23, and the trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 5.