TORONTO — A Toronto-area woman who injected silicone into the buttocks of nine women — in some cases using syringes attached to a caulking gun — has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
Marilyn Ely Reid, 48, was arrested in November 2012 after a 28-year-old woman fell ill after receiving alleged Botox injections. Police said the woman underwent surgery to have the substance removed.
Investigators at the time alleged Reid advertised buttock, lip and muscle augmentations and Botox injections on a website called pmmainjection.com.
Several other victims came forward after her arrest.
Her lawyer said Monday several of the women have had "serious health issues" ever since the procedure, which his client was not licensed to perform. Reid administered the injections with syringes, Calvin Barry said.
One of the women — none of whom can be identified due to a publication ban — is still unable to sit down, he said.
"The way it would work is she'd meet these people... at hotel rooms in the GTA and Toronto and then what she would do is, they'd pay her thousands of dollars and she'd inject them in the buttocks with a silicone-based ingredient," Barry said in a phone interview.
"It's a little shady when it's happening in a hotel room and cash currency is being passed, it's not like it's at a plastic surgery...location," he said.
"And so the victims kind of knew what they were getting into, too, but they wanted to enhance their behinds with this Brazilian butt enhancement and anyway, a lot of these women got seriously ill."
Reid pleaded guilty to eight counts of aggravated assault endangering life — one count was withdrawn — and is due back in court Feb. 27.
Barry said the Crown is seeking a nine-to-10-year sentence, but he is arguing his client should get sentenced to time served because she is remorseful.
