A woman police said was an “illegal backyard shed med spa suspect” was sentenced June 2 to three years in prison, according to attorneys and court records.
Arrested in July 2025 after a Port St. Lucie Police investigation, Rosa Mena, 51, pleaded no contest to three felony counts of practicing medicine without a license before being sentenced by Circuit Judge Michael Linn.
As part of the negotiated plea, a number of other charges, including three felony battery counts, were dropped, Assistant State Attorney Jonathon Libby said June 4.
Libby said a 3-year prison sentence for a person with no criminal history is “pretty significant.”
Defense attorney Philip Yacucci said June 4 the plea and sentencing, which also included five years’ probation, were “extremely fair.”
A woman told police about what she believed constituted an “illegal med spa” along with an unlicensed medical worker in May 2025.
The woman reported she went to Mena’s home to get Botox injections, paying $325 for 62 units.
The woman alleged she received “facial paralysis” following an injection at Mena’s “makeshift backyard med spa shed.”
A police spokesperson at the time said Mena had past patients and clients, noting investigators found an Instagram page advertising the business with a picture of a patient on a table and Mena dressed in medical garb as if preparing to perform procedures.
Libby advised people to research practitioners before a procedure.
“Even if it’s in the most professional looking building, we still would recommend that people go to check on license statuses through the Department of Health, which is available online,” he said. “People really need to make sure that they’re checking on the license status of folks and verifying that they’re dealing with legal, licensed individuals.”
Yacucci called it “kind of a tragic case,” noting Mena hadn’t been in trouble before.
“She had been a licensed phlebotomist, someone who could take blood, but she was not under Florida law certified to do Botox, which is what she basically was accused of,” he said.
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida woman sentenced in bogus Botox ‘backyard shed med spa’ case
Reporting by Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers | USA TODAY Network
