Deadly Silicone Butt Injections Earned Man $1.5M: Guilty Plea

GREENBELT, MD — A man charged with first-degree after he reportedly injected a woman’s buttocks with silicone to increase their size – a procedure which a medical examiner says killed her – has pleaded guilty to lesser federal charges in exchange for dismissal of the murder charge.

A federal grand jury indicted Vinnie Lysander Taylor, 44, of Wilmington, NC, in August 2015 on nine charges of receiving and selling industrial grade silicone, but telling customers that it was medical grade silicone. According to his plea agreement, at $500 per treatment, Taylor’s mid-range fee, proceeds from the illegal injections total at least $1,598,000.

On Friday, Taylor pleaded guilty to charges of receiving and selling industrial grade silicone, but telling customers that it was medical grade silicone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Prince George’s County authorities say Taylor was at a Capitol Heights hotel on March 20, 2014, where he gave a woman silicone injections. She became ill and later died at a local hospital, Patch earlier reported. Prince George’s County prosecutors charged Taylor with second-degree murder in the death.

As part of his federal plea agreement, Taylor has agreed to plead guilty in Prince George’s County Circuit Court to actions that resulted in the death of the victim in March 2014. In exchange, the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed first-degree murder charges which were pending against Taylor.

Taylor, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Sharon Alsobrooks have agreed that if the court accepts the plea agreement, Taylor will be sentenced to between 12 and 15 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled Taylor’s sentencing for Aug. 19. Taylor remains in custody.

According to the plea agreement, from roughly Sept. 30, 2008, through Dec. 2, 2014, Taylor told customers and victims the injection procedure was safe and that he used medical grade silicone, which it was not.

Taylor administered the injections in hotel rooms in Prince George’s County, Arlington, VA, and elsewhere. Prosecutors say at least 10 women in Maryland received the unsafe injections.

Court records say Taylor charged between $800 and $1,000 for the initial injections and between $350 and $800 for subsequent injections.

On March 20, 2014, Taylor injected silicone into the buttocks of a victim who began having breathing problems.  On March 22, 2014, the woman checked herself into the hospital and died two days later. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was acute and chronic respiratory failure due to a foreign substance causing a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries to the lungs.

As part of his plea agreement, Taylor has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal information that will be filed in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, admitting that Taylor’s conduct resulted in the death of the victim in March 2014.  In exchange, the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed first-degree murder charges which were pending against Taylor.

»PHOTO of suspect Vinnie Taylor, courtesy of the Prince George’s County Sheriff’s Department