One name change, two more patient deaths at a Coral Gables surgery center
Patients died in April and May after visiting a Coral Gables plastic surgery center that changed its name last year and had at least two Brazilian butt lift deaths under the previous brand.
Both Kenly Aponte, a 35-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky, and Endrys Martinez, a 19-year-old from Memphis, died after coming to town for surgeries at Svelta Plastic Surgery, 4950 SW Eighth St. Svelta is the new name for Seduction Cosmetic Center, which was cited for several violations as investigators looked into a 2021 death.
According to attorney Jorge Silva, who is representing the Aponte and Martinez families, Aponte went into cardiac arrest while under anesthesia on April 29 for a “Mommy Makeover” — a tummy tuck, breast augmentation and Brazilian butt lift. Coral Gables Fire Rescue took Aponte three miles south to the Baptist Health Doctors Hospital emergency room, where she was declared dead.
Martinez, Silva said, went to Svelta for a rhinoplasty on May 22, but wound up on a ventilator in a hospital for four days before dying on May 26.
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No lawsuits have been filed yet in the deaths. According to Florida malpractice law, a 90-day period is required after a defendant is informed about an intent to sue, which triggers a review to determine liability.
Svelta owner Gretel Jardon emailed a statement to the Miami Herald:
“First and foremost, we extend our deepest condolences to the families affected during this deeply painful time. We want to be transparent with the public: the information currently being reported does not completely or accurately reflect the facts of what occurred.
“All patients under the care of plastic surgeons at Svelta are important to us,” Jardon’s statement said. “That is why we are accumulating data to perform a root cause analysis to better understand these outcomes. We are doing this out of respect for the families involved and to ensure that Svelta provides plastic surgery patients with the safest environment possible.
“Out of adherence to patient privacy laws, Svelta is precluded from speaking about individual plastic surgery patient outcomes.”
Previous deaths at Svelta / Seduction
Aponte and Martinez aren’t the first patients whose lives ended with a surgery at what was known as Seduction Cosmetic Center.
In 2017, during Seduction Cosmetic Center’s time in Doral, 30-year-old Lattia Baumeister died from fat clots in her lung after an attempted Brazilian butt lift by Osakatukei Omulepu. Before working at Seduction, Omulepu compiled a record of punctured organs and infections, and the state tried to ban him from performing liposuction. Omulepu’s license eventually was revoked.
John Sampson didn’t lose his license, but was banned from future Brazilian butt lifts and fined $20,000 after one of his Seduction patient’s died. Sampson wasn’t supposed to be doing surgeries at Seduction. That’s what Sampson and Seduction told the state in separate letters claiming he would be only Seduction’s designated physician, the doctor in charge of compliance with state laws.
Not only did Sampson do surgery on patients for two months, according to some Seduction patients and the state’s administrative complaint, but on June 16, 2021, he did seven surgeries. Surgery No. 7 ended with the patient having a punctured liver and intestines, the state’s administrative complaint said. She died at age 33.
Sampson now practices in Jackson, Michigan, where a Jan. 15, 2025, consent order with the Michigan Board of Medicine says he is prohibited from performing gluteal fat grafting procedures or being a surgery center’s designated physician for at least five years.
The website for Argyle Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery claims several times that Sampson is a “board-certified surgeon.” The American Board of Plastic Surgery website says Sampson’s board certification has been suspended since 2022. According to the American Board of Surgery certification check, he’s never been certified by that board.
Credibility and credentials
Svelta’s website states: “Each Svelta surgeon is board-certified, extensively trained, and committed to delivering results that exceed expectations, safely and beautifully.” But board certifications of the six surgeons on the website spreads doubt on that claim.
The American Board of Plastic Surgery says Dr. Alfred Sofer and Dr. Keith Robertson are board certified plastic surgeons.
The American Board of Surgery says Dr. Amaury Martinez is board certified in general surgery under the full name on his Florida license, “Amaury Alexander Martinez Garcia.”
Svelta’s website claims Dr. Paul Perales is board certified in general surgery and bariatric and metabolic surgery. Bariatric and metabolic surgery board certifications are offered through the American Board of Surgery, which shows only general surgery board certification for Perales.
For Dr. Marco Amarante— (licensed in Florida as “Marco Tulio Junqueira Amarante,” — neither the American Board of Plastic Surgery nor the American Board of Surgery shows a board certified doctor under “Amarante” or “Junqueira.”
Only the above five are the medical doctors listed among Svelta’s practitioners with the Florida Department of Health. Dr. Manuel Alejandro Fajardo appears on Svelta’s website, but doesn’t appear under Svelta’s staff listing with the department. Neither the American Board of Plastic Surgery nor the American Board of Surgery list him as board certified.
From Seduction Cosmetic Center to Svelta Plastic Surgery
State records say company president Luis Jardon registered Svelta Plastic Surgery at 4950 SW Eighth St. on July 31 last year. Seduction Cosmetic Center’s flowing, easy-to-read red logo on the building front has been replaced by Svelta’s smaller logo that’s tough to make out even from across the street.
Why the name change?
“Over time, the word ‘Seduction’ was increasingly misclassified by search engines and messaging platforms, which limited our ability to reach and communicate with our own patients,” Gretel Jardon wrote in an email to the Miami Herald. “Appointment reminders and updates were being filtered, and our online visibility was being restricted — not because of the quality of our care, but because of how algorithms interpreted a single word.”
Jardon said nothing else has changed aside from the name.
