Story Published:
Oct 30, 2009 at 8:14 PM PST
Story Updated:
Oct 31, 2009 at 2:56 PM PST
Xin "Faith" He is seen in court in this file photo.
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- The woman accused of injecting clients with counterfeit Botox and Restylane at her Bellevue beauty salon has been found guilty.
Xin "Faith" He, 46, of Issaquah was convicted on Friday of felony misbranding of a drug while held for sale, as well as two misdemeanor counts of receipt and proffered delivery of adulterated device.
District Judge Marsha J. Pechman, citing evidence presented by prosecutors, ordered the woman be immediately taken into custody.
Prosecutors had presented an advertisement the salon owner had placed in a Vietnamese language newspaper just before her trial. The ad falsely claimed He was licensed to perform surgical procedures. He is a license esthetician and manicurist; however, she is not licensed to use injectable treatments.
"The court cannot trust that she will abide by any rules laid down," Pechman said.
Investigators said at least two women fell victim to He's unlicensed treatments and, as a result, suffered severe consequences.
One former client of He's Natural Salon said injections she received from He left her with permanent scars and big lumps.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she visited the salon in April 2008 to have her permanent eyeliner removed.
While at the salon, the woman said she was talked into injectable treatments for her wrinkles, and received injections on her forehead, nose, chin and under her eyes.
When she walked out, the woman said she was no longer herself.
"I went through a year and a half...my face looked like Frankenstein's," she said. "I don't go out to meet people if I don't have to, and I stay home. That's not me anymore. It changed my life entirely."
The woman thought what she was getting were Botox injections administered by a licensed medical practitioner. But federal investigators said He, a licensed esthetician and manicurist, does not have a license to perform injectable treatments. What's more, they said the substances He was using were counterfeit Botox and Restylane.
A search of He's salon turned up vials of drugs marked in Chinese writings. Investigators have not identified the drugs, but said they're sure the drugs are not FDA-approved.
Investigators believe another woman fell victim to He's unlicensed treatment at a salon in Factoria in 2005. A Snohomish County woman allegedly received injections from He and required medical treatment to reverse the damage.
That same year, investigators said, He was caught ready to inject counterfeit Botox into an undercover agent at her Issaquah home.
The state Department of Health served He with a cease and desist order, but the woman who allegedly fell victim to her at her Bellevue salon says He did not stop.
"I said, 'Oh, my God, she lied to me all this time. I don't lie. Why'd she lie to me? All this time I trusted her,'" the woman said.
A plastic surgeon removed the hardened mass from beneath the woman's skin, but U.S. attorneys said her face will never look the same.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18. She faces up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.