Former Toledo plastic surgeon Manish Raj Gupta has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison.
Gupta pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and illegally dispensing a controlled substance and was sentenced to the maximum 235 months, or roughly 19½ years, and ordered to pay fines and restitution totalling $307,000.
FBI agents discovered 61 videos of Dr. Manish Raj Gupta committing sex acts of violence on more than 20 unconscious women. Gupta first corresponded with his Victim #1 in August of 2016. On September 23, he met her at a hotel, administered an incapacitating controlled substance, performed sexual acts of violence on her and recorded the assault.
Gupta hired this victim to accompany him to a medical conference in Los Angeles, where he drugged and sexually assaulted her, and recorded the act.
Gupta’s trail of sexual assault spanned the nation. Travelling to medical conferences around the country— including in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco—Gupta would stay at a centrally located hotel and hire area escorts.
Prior to these travels, Gupta would ship to the hotel where he would be staying a “rape bag” containing the incapacitating drugs he would administer without victim’s knowledge, and the recording equipment he would use to film the violent sexual acts.
Gupta “meticulously planned his attacks, including which controlled substances to pull from his medical office so that he could incapacitate vulnerable women and record his sexual assaults,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan.
FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at one of Gupta’s plastic surgery centers on March 6, 2020, during which they obtained controlled substances, sedatives, recording equipment and SD cards, one of which contained a recording of Gupta committing sexual assault.
Gupta was a double board-certified plastic surgeon who founded, owned and operated out of Artisan Cosmetic Surgery, with offices in Toledo and Oregon, Ohio, and a third location in Taylor, Michigan. He had privileges at multiple area hospitals.
On WebMD, the former surgeon has 77 reviews and is rated an overall 5-stars. The doctor’s RealSelf profile, now closed, includes 18 reviews and an overall 4.6-star overall rating.
There is currently no evidence that former patients were among the victims of Gupta’s sexual assault. The FBI encourages anyone who was victimized by Gupta to contact them at 1-877-FBI-OHIO.
FBI Special Agent in charge Eric B. Smith said “The FBI is pleased with the lengthy sentence given today to Manish Gupta for his heinous criminal behavior. He took advantage of these females and turned them into victims of sexual abuse.”