| For Immediate Release Case # 12NF2212 November 8, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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FAKE DENTIST SENTENCED FOR PRACTICING WITHOUT LICENSE, POSSESSING DANGEROUS DRUGS, AND ENGAGING IN WELFARE FRAUD
FULLERTON – A man found with a large cache of dental narcotics was convicted and sentenced yesterday for performing unlicensed dental work on patients, possessing controlled substances, and fraudulently claiming and receiving food stamp benefits by not reporting the money he made in his illicit dental practice. Esteban Campos, 47, Buena Park, pleaded guilty Nov. 7, 2012 to one felony count of the possession for distribution of a controlled substance, one felony count of obtaining public benefit aid by misrepresentation over $400, and one misdemeanor count of practicing dentistry without a valid license. Campos was sentenced to five years formal probation, 30 days in jail, restitution, $500 in fines, and is prohibited from offering dental treatments, consultations, or otherwise practicing dentistry for patients for the duration of his probation.
Campos was previously a Registered Dental Assistant in California, but his accreditation expired in 2007. Campos operated Steven’s Dental Lab on Western Avenue in Buena Park and illegally represented himself as a dentist and practiced dentistry without a valid license.
In December 2011, the Department of Consumer Affairs Dental Board of California received a complaint regarding Campos and the unlicensed practice of dentistry.
On two occasions in February and March 2012, undercover investigators went to Steven’s Dental Lab under the pretense of being patients in need of dental work. Campos fraudulently represented himself as a dentist to the investigators. He performed dental exams, rendered diagnoses, recommended oral surgery and braces, and made a return dental appointment. He quoted prices ranging from $65 to $2,000, depending on the procedure.
Law enforcement conducted a subsequent search of the defendant’s fraudulent dental office. In the office, Campos possessed a large inventory of controlled substances and narcotics which included Morphine Sulfer, Roxicet, Vicodin, and Soma, as well as boxes of dangerous drugs without prescriptions which included omeprazole, naproxen, theramine, glucotrol, warfarin, sertraline, cyclobenzaprine, tramadol, ketogel cream, and lidocaine. He possessed these drugs and administered them to patients without a license or a prescription in his illegal practice of dentistry.
Investigators also discovered Campos had fraudulently claimed and received over $6,600 in food stamp benefits by not reporting the money he received from patients for his illicit dental practice in 2010.
Deputy District Attorney James Young of the Code Enforcement Unit prosecuted this case.
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