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Sarasota Doctor Guilty Of Practicing Without License

Stethoscope and gavel against a white backdrop.
Wikimedia Commons
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

A former Sarasota doctor whose license to practice was revoked by the state was found guilty of four counts of practicing without a license.

The charge could mean at least seven years in prison if the judge doesn't stray from sentencing guidelines during a hearing in December.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports  that Leonard Rubinstein, who kept treating patients even after losing his license in 2012, was arrested in 2013 after undercover officers posed as a married couple seeking a breast augmentation for the wife. During the consultation, Rubinstein told them he would have to do the surgery in Mexico.

During trial, the defense insisted Rubinstein was working only as an assistant to a licensed doctor who was not always at the office.