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Ex-UCI Doctor Pleads Not Guilty to Mail Fraud

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Dr. Sergio C. Stone pleaded not guilty Friday to 30 counts of mail fraud, a day after a federal grand jury indicted Stone and Dr. Jose P. Balmaceda, his former partner at the now-defunct UC Irvine fertility clinic.

Balmaceda, 47, who left the United States after the scandal broke last June, was not in court today, but his criminal attorney hinted he may return.

“I think he’s got to feel that to clear his good name he will probably have to come back,” said attorney Paul Raymond, who will consult with his client this weekend.

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“It’s certainly within the realm of possibility.”

The federal indictment alleges the two doctors falsely billed insurance companies between July 1991 and March 1995.

Authorities allege the pair illegally charged for the services of a medical trainee, or charged an extra physician’s fee, when there was none present.

Stone, 54, was arrested in April on 10 counts of mail fraud and placed under house arrest in his Villa Park home after posting a $3- million bond. This week’s indictment incorporates the 10 original counts.

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If convicted, Stone and Balmaceda would face a maximum penalty of five years in jail and up to a $250,000 fine for each count of mail fraud. However, sentencing guidelines would make it highly unlikely the two would receive the maximum penalty, according to federal prosecutors.

Prosecutors were unwilling to say whether more indictments would be filed against the two doctors or the clinic’s former director Ricardo H. Asch.

The university has accused Stone, Balmaceda and Asch of stealing eggs and embryos from scores of women and implanting them in others, some of whom gave birth. The three have steadfastly denied any intentional wrongdoing.

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Also on Friday, U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor said that in light of the new charges, friends and relatives of Stone who helped raise a $3-million bond upon his first arrest have two weeks to renew their pledge to financially support the doctor.

A trial date for Stone will be set at a hearing July 29.

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