A former Toledo physician will spend multiple years in prison following his conviction for sex trafficking and drugging victims.
On November 15, Judge James Carr of the U.S. Northern District of Ohio, sentenced Manish Raj Gupta, 50, of Sylvania, to more than 19 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and illegally dispensing a controlled substance.
Mr. Gupta was sentenced to 235 months and ordered to pay a fine of $250,000 and more than $57,000 in restitution.
“Mr. Gupta meticulously planned his attacks, including the use of controlled substances to pull from his medical office so he could incapacitate vulnerable women and record his sexual assaults,” said acting U.S. attorney Bridget Brennan. “The brave women who spoke out, along with the dedicated work of the FBI and prosecutors assigned to this case, ensured that Mr. Gupta was brought to justice and will no longer be a threat to women.”
“The FBI is pleased with the lengthy sentence given to Manish Gupta for his heinous criminal behavior,” said FBI special agent in charge Eric Smith.
“He took advantage of these females and turned them into victims of sexual abuse. Gupta’s incarceration may pave the way for other victims to come forward. The FBI encourages anyone that was sexually victimized by Manish Gupta to call 1-877-FBI-OHIO.”
As set out in court documents, Mr. Gupta was a plastic surgeon and business owner of three surgery centers in Toledo, Oregon and southern Michigan.
As a licensed doctor, he was authorized to prescribe controlled substances within the course of his medical practice for legitimate purposes.
Court records show that he traveled to medical conferences in large urban areas, including Chicago in March and April 2013, Cleveland in April 2013, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale in June 2015 and July 2019, Los Angeles in September 2016 and various other dates in San Francisco and Detroit.
Mr. Gupta would stay at a centrally located hotel, hire escorts in the area and administer incapacitating drugs to commit sexual acts of violence without consent.
He often recorded these assaults and, prior to his travel, would ship a bag described in court documents as a “rape bag,” containing drugs and recording equipment, to the hotels where he was staying.
In August 2016, court documents indicate that Mr. Gupta began corresponding online with victim No. 1, an individual he intended to hire for sexual activity prior to traveling to Los Angeles.
On September 23, 2016, he met with the victim at the hotel where he was staying, administered an incapacitating controlled substance, performed sexual acts of violence and recorded the assault.
On March 6, 2020, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at one of the physician’s plastic surgery centers in Toledo.
Agents discovered numerous items, including controlled substances, sedatives, recording equipment and video recording memory cards, one of which contained a recording of the doctor committing sexual assault.
Agents later discovered 61 videos of Mr. Gupta committing sex acts of violence on at least 20 different unconscious women, including victim No. 1.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Toledo resident agency and was prosecuted by assistant U.S.attorneys Tracey Ballard Tangeman and Carol Skutnik.
