Man Pleads Not Guilty to Faking Medical Care
An unlicensed doctor pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he bilked hundreds of immigrants by performing fake medical exams and injecting them with a saline solution that he claimed was a vaccine.
Stephen Brian Turner is accused of taking $247,000 from 1,417 victims, most of whom thought they were receiving legitimate immigration checkups.
Turner, 51, entered the plea in San Francisco Superior Court to more than 100 felony charges, including practicing medicine without a license, mishandling blood samples and grand theft charges. Prosecutors said he surrendered his California medical license in 1998, but continued treating patients until late last year.
Turner is being held on $1.45 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court again on March 16.
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