A San Francisco man who allegedly stole the identity of a physician’s assistant and used it to illegally perform medical procedures and sexually assault several victims was ordered to stand trial Friday.
Carlos Guzmangarza, 49, was arrested last December and faces multiple felony counts including rape, sexual battery, assault, practicing medicine without a license, false impersonation and grand theft.
He allegedly stole the identity of Carlos Guzman, a Fresno physician’s assistant, and operated Derma Clinic, a clinic in the city’s Mission District where he performed various procedures on nine women, including liposuction, facelifts and lip and buttock augmentations, according to prosecutors.
In a preliminary hearing completed Friday, one victim testified that Guzmangarza was smoking during a buttock augmentation that she had paid $5,000 for. She said he sexually assaulted her after injecting her with various substances.
In another incident, prosecutors have said Guzmangarza performed liposuction on a woman, then later came to her house and flushed pounds of her fat down the toilet. The women’s abdomen became infected and required additional treatment.
Guzmangarza was ordered to stand trial Friday following a lengthy preliminary hearing, according to Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. He was ordered to return to court for formal arraignment on Jan. 4, 2013.
Guzmangarza remains in custody on $1 million bail and could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
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