New charges have been filed against one of the defendants in a human smuggling and illegal dentistry case working through Lyon County District Court.
Iris Tatiana Sandoval-Flores has her first appearance Thursday afternoon on charges of theft and unlicensed practice of dentistry or dental hygiene. Sandoval-Flores is accused of stealing dental supplies and prescription drugs from CareArc between August 2024 and this past May, as well as practicing dentistry or dental hygiene without a license between January 2023 and this past May.
The charges are connected to the larger case that was announced in May. Sandoval-Flores was initially accused of human smuggling, identity theft, dealing in false ID documents and unlawful practice. Lyon County Attorney Amy Aranda (uh-RAN-duh) tells KVOE News the initial unlawful dentistry charge was dropped to be refiled with the new case but the remaining counts are still active. The original case against Sandoval-Flores has a preliminary hearing Sept. 15.
Seven other defendants are included:
*Francisco Pichardo-Machado, Martin Pichardo-Machado and Hugo Cardona-Argueta all have hearings Aug. 15. Both Francisco and Martin Pichardo-Mchado are charged with making false information, marijuana possession and paraphernalia possession; Hugo Cardona-Argueta has been charged with identity theft, interference with law enforcement, marijuana possession and paraphernalia possession
*Martha Lopez-Alvarado, charged with identity theft, interference with law enforcement, marijuana possession and paraphernalia possession, will have a pretrial conference Aug. 22. Lopez-Alvarado is both a defendant and witness in this case
Also:
*Rigoberto Sandoval-Sandoval and Ana Raquel Figueroa were supposed to have separate hearings last month on charges of unlicensed practice of dentistry or dental hygiene and unlawful obtaining a prescription-only drug
*Edwar Benavidez-Sanchez, listed on the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal as Jerlin Jeovanny Cerna-Arguello, was supposed to have a preliminary hearing last week on charges of identity theft, identity fraud, making false information and dealing in false ID documents
Warrants have been issued for these three individuals.
