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A plastic surgeon who removed the fingerprints of a drug ring operative has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to concealing a fugitive.

Jose Covarrubias, a U.S. citizen who practiced in Mexico, has already served 10 months in county jail. After he serves the remaining eight months, he faces a three-year probation.

The sentence would have been longer, but the judge took six months off because Covarrubias cooperated with the authorities. Joseph Metz, Covarrubias’ defense attorney, said the ruling was fair.

Prosecutors were reluctant to believe stories about fugitives without fingerprints until September 2005 when a drug operative who had just undergone the painful procedure was found at a border crossing.

(Source: Associated Press)

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