East Naples woman practicing dentistry out of her garage will serve year in jail

CCSO

• Name: Toledo, Rosa Maria
• Charge: NON LICENSE PERSON LEASE OPERATE DENTAL OFFICE EQU, PRACTICE DENTAL HYGIENE WITHOUT ACTIVE LICENSE
• Residence: Naples
• Age: 56
• Occupation: Dental assistant
• Case #: None yet available

A former Mexican dentist unlicensed to practice in the U.S. will serve a year in jail for seeing patients in her East Naples garage, a judge ruled on Friday.

Rosa Maria Toledo, 58, of Moon Lake Drive, was adjudicated guilty of practicing dental hygiene without a license, a felony charge. She'll serve three years of probation after release from the Naples Jail Center.

"The rules are pretty strict, and there are reasons for them," Collier Circuit Judge Franklin Baker admonished Toledo.

Deputies arrested her in July 2009 after finding a converted dental office in her garage. The setup included a reclining chair, a water-powered drill set, dental castings, molds, glues, partial dentures and bridges. Dental tools and Mexican diplomas hung on the wall, and a cabinet held novocaine and other chemicals.

A ledger in the garage listed hundreds of patients.

Detectives obtained the search warrant after one of Toledo's patients sought treatment for an infection at a local hospital.

Baker's sentence was a reduction from Toledo's plea agreement, which called for two years in state prison. The judge rewarded the suspect for adhering to a furlough he granted her between the September plea date and Friday's sentencing. He also withheld adjudication on a second charge, possession of dental equipment without a license.

Toledo's attorney, Rebecca Hodge, asked Baker to withhold adjudication on both charges. She said Toledo, a former Mexican dentist and a legal U.S. resident for 18 years, is pursuing a U.S. license and wants to stay in the country after her green card expires next year.

Hodge said Toledo has taken dentistry classes during the past three years and passed a first board certification exam. She told Baker that Toledo had previously avoided certification due to lack of time and money.

Baker declined Hodge's request, calling the facts of the case "very serious."

"You may be very qualified," he told Toledo. "I'll never know that."

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