A Tucson chiropractor who conspired to run a fake dental practice from his office has been sentenced to three years in prison, but his license remains in good standing nearly two months after his conviction for a string of felonies.
Jesus Bernal, 43, was convicted in January on charges of fraudulent schemes, money laundering, practicing dentistry without a license, conspiracy and illegal control of an enterprise, the Arizona Attorney General's Office said in a news release.
Bernal had faced a possible sentence of up to 25 years in the case jointly investigated by the attorney general's office and the FBI. He has been behind bars since Jan. 26.
His conviction stems from a scheme in which a woman from Mexico posed as a dentist and performed unlicensed procedures on Tucson residents from Bernal's chiropractic clinic on South 12th Avenue.
Bernal received a cut of the profits and kept track of dental patients' comings and goings to ensure he got paid, his former employees testified.
FBI agents who searched the makeshift dental operation found "unsanitary conditions and no means of sterilization," the attorney general's office said.
The woman, identified in court records as Maria Aurelia Montes Hernandez, 46, also faces criminal charges and is believed to be hiding in Mexico, officials said.
As of Wednesday, when authorities announced his prison sentence, Bernal was still listed as a licensed chiropractor in good standing on the website of the Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
Justin Bohall, the board's executive director, said he couldn't comment on whether Bernal faces disciplinary action.
Penalties against licensees are only acknowledged publicly once they are approved by the board, and that hasn't happened in this case, Bohall said.
Mia Garcia, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the licensing board was notified of the criminal charges against Bernal after his arrest in June.
Bernal has track record of disciplinary issues with the licensing board, online records show.
In 2008, his license was put on probation for five years for seven misconduct violations including lying about his criminal history to obtain a license and being unfit to practice due to alcohol abuse, the records show.
A psychiatric exam conducted at that time found Bernal met the criteria "for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse."
The board also found Bernal had concealed most of his criminal past when he applied for, and was granted, a license in 2000.
His application claimed he'd had one past criminal conviction, when in fact he had several for offenses including assault, domestic violence endangerment, criminal damage, reckless driving and impaired driving, the records said.
