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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Surgeon jailed for removing fingerprints |
| 2008-02-14 |
| A plastic surgeon in Mexico who replaced the fingerprints of a marijuana drug ring member with skin from the bottom of his feet was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 months in prison. Judge Yvette Kane called Dr Jose Covarrubias's crime "horrific". Covarrubias, a US citizen who lived in the border town of Nogales, Arizona, and practiced in Mexico, pleaded guilty on November 1 to a federal charge of harbouring and concealing a fugitive. The case was bizarre even to prosecutors, who did not believe the stories of drug ring operatives without fingerprints, until Marc George was arrested in September 2005 at the Nogales border crossing with Mexico, bandaged and limping badly from the painful procedure. Looks like it was wildly successful, too. Covarrubias was indicted in May. Prosecutors say the drug ring moved cash and drugs from Tucson and elsewhere and distributed more than a tonne of it in central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and other areas. Covarrubias, 50, apologised to Kane for his conduct, and said he had learned his lesson. He has been jailed for 10 months and can be released in eight months. He then faces three years of probation. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #2 So what exactly was "horrific" about it? Other than the part about the drug guy not taking some time off to let his feet heal, so what? Oh, "horrific", in denying the FBI the ability to get a conviction based on your fingerprints. Shame on him. I suppose the judge thinks that it is "horrific" that criminals don't turn themselves in as well. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-02-14 20:11 |
| #1 I thought this only happened in Bogart movies? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-14 12:13 |