Unlicensed South Shore med spa owner who gave fake Botox injections sentenced to 46 months in prison

An unlicensed owner of two South Shore med spas was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Thursday.

Rebecca Fadanelli, 40, of Stoughton, pleaded guilty to four counts of importing merchandise contrary to law, two counts of selling or dispensing a counterfeit drug and two counts of selling or dispensing a counterfeit device in April, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Fadanelli was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution and forfeiture and to two years of supervised release following her sentence, officials said.

Although she told clients she used authentic Botox and FDA-approved dermal fillers, Fadanelli performed thousands of cosmetic injection procedures using counterfeit Botox and dermal fillers from China and Brazil over the course of nearly four years, federal prosecutors said.

Fadanelli is a licensed aesthetician, but she is not licensed to perform injections. She also told clients she was a licensed nurse, prosecutors said.

Between March 2021 and June 2024, she performed 2,700 botulinum toxin and dermal filler injection procedures and received more than $1 million from over 900 clients at the businesses she owns, Skin Beaute Med Spa in Randolph and South Easton, officials said.

After warnings and law enforcement interventions, Fadanelli continued to operate her businesses illegally. Federal authorities seized the shipments of counterfeit drugs addressed to her home, which led her to use different delivery addresses and recipient names, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Investigators also found Fadanelli entering the country at Boston’s Logan International Airport with prescription drugs and vials of liquid in 2023. 

Fadanelli told agents she did not know whether the products were approved by the FDA and said she stopped ordering them after being notified they were “not allowed,” according to charging documents.

During a search of both locations in June 2024, authorities recovered counterfeit products labeled as Botox and other dermal filler products. They also found bacteriostatic water, which is used to dilute Botox, that contained methylobacterium, a bacteria that can cause infection, prosecutors said.

Fadanelli continued to perform procedures until her arrest in November 2024, officials said. While on pretrial release in May 2025, she performed an injection procedure at her home using a substance she told the client was the dermal filler Sculptra, according to prosecutors. Her release was revoked in November 2025, and she has remained in custody since.

“This was not a mistake or a one-time lapse in judgment,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a press release. “Her victims were left with infections, facial paralysis, vision problems, scars and the lasting fear of not knowing what was injected into their bodies.”

Several of Fadenelli’s clients were hospitalized and required followup medical treatment after suffering from severe swelling, infections, drooping or paralysis of the face and eyes, double vision, impaired eyesight, and hard lumps or nodules, Foley’s office said.

Specifically, one client was hospitalized for weeks for severe facial swelling, headaches, weakness and fever-like symptoms following botulinum toxin injections, officials said. Another victim spent four days in the hospital after experiencing facial drooping and paralysis, double vision and headaches.

Another suffered impaired vision for three months and one had surgery to remove a hard lump beneath her skin and was left with scarring, according to federal prosecutors.

Fadanelli often dismissed client concerns, assured clients she used FDA-approved products, and told some clients to return for additional treatments, officials said.

Fadanelli’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.