By Alex Christodoulides
Luis Teran, 43, and his wife, Margarita Teran, 51, both of 35-24 93rd St. in Jackson Heights, and Fernando Utsman, 38, of 76-35 167th St. in Fresh Meadows, are each charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession and face up to seven years in prison if convicted, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.”The defendants Ð none of whom are licensed by New York state to practice dentistry Ð are accused of preying upon unsuspecting individuals to selfishly enrich themselves. Their alleged conduct jeopardized the safety of patients looking for reasonable-priced dental care by allowing unlicensed or unqualified individuals to treat them,” the DA said.According to the charges filed against them, the Terans unlawfully practiced as dentists and operated a clinic out of their 93rd Street address where they offered a range of services and procedures, including fabricating, bridge fitting and installation and cavity fillings.In separate charges filed against Utsman, the Fresh Meadows man allegedly provided invasive dental procedures to patients at TKM Lab Inc., a dental office and laboratory located at 91-11 31st Ave. in East Elmhurst, between Dec. 6, 2007, and Feb. 21, 2008, even though he did not possess a license to practice dentistry in New York. The DA said Utsman allegedly performed and accepted payment for fitting a patient for a cap and drilling out an old filling and replacing it with a new filling.Detectives assigned to the district attorney's NYPD Squad, accompanied by investigators of the state Department of Education, executed court-authorized search warrants last Thursday, which were drafted by the DA's Economic Crimes Bureau at the defendants' work places, Brown said. Among the items discovered at the two locations were dental chairs and instruments, sterilization equipment, X-ray film, dental molds and other dental equipment, the DA said.Utsman was arraigned Friday before Queens Criminal Court Judge William Harrington, who released him on his own recognizance and ordered him to return to court on April 8, the DA said. The Terans were awaiting arraignment Friday afternoon, the DA said.
