SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A plastic surgeon based in Bonita has entered a guilty plea to charges of manslaughter and aiding and abetting a person in practicing medicine without a license in connection to the 2018 death of a patient.
Carlos Chacon submitted the plea in court Monday morning, agreeing to the terms of a three-year prison sentence and a lifetime suspension of his California medical license. He had faced a second-degree murder charge.
Prosecutors alleged that Chacon left his patient, Megan Espinoza, suffocating for hours in critical condition at the Divino Plastic Surgery Clinic in 2018 as he saw other patients. Espinoza had gone into cardiac arrest during a breast augmentation procedure.
She died six weeks later.
READ MORE: Doctor testifies he was 'astounded' by patient’s condition during hearing for MD charged with murder
“Megan Espinoza was a gem of the community. She was a kindergarten teacher. She left a thoughtful and sweet husband and two children,” Christian Jagusch, the physician-attorney who represented Espinoza’s family in a lawsuit, told ABC 10News during earlier reporting on this story.
During court testimony at an Oct. 2023 hearing, a former Divino employee said Chacon directed her to give Espinoza an anesthetic to her breasts, despite the fact this employee had no formal medical training. The former employee testified further, saying something went wrong toward the end of the procedure and "the monitor started making a noise."
She said Chacon continued the surgery even when Espinoza's chest turned a bluish-purple color. Despite the patient's condition, Chacon left the room for 10 to 20 minutes, according to the former employee's testimony.
“I asked [the nurse] if we were going to call 911, if someone should call and she said 'No that it was doctor’s orders' and we had to wait for him,” she testified.
Jagusch said following Espinoza's death, Chacon managed to renew his medical license twice and was still able to see patients while facing criminal charges. A court order was later issued to stop him from performing surgeries, but he was still able to see patients for other procedures.
The nurse in this case, Heather Vass, already pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
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Chacon won't be taken into custody Monday; his sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 20.
"This case has been going on for over six years. Nothing can replace the life of Megan Espinoza. By entering into a plea, Dr. Chacon has accepted his role in the outcome," Chacon's attorney said in a statement. "He wants Ms. Espinoza's family to have closure, as well as his own."
