DENVER (KDVR) — A plastic surgeon on trial for the death of a young woman following a procedure he performed was found guilty Wednesday of attempted manslaughter.

Dr. Geoffrey Kim was also found guilty of obstructing telephone services for not allowing staff to call 911 for five hours after the teenage patient slipped into a coma on the operating table. But he was acquitted on more serious charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide, FOX31’s Rob Low reported.

A jury deliberated for five hours before reaching the verdict.

Kim performed breast enhancement surgery on 18-year-old Emmalyn Nguyen on Aug. 1, 2019. She slipped into a coma and went into cardiac arrest after receiving anesthesia and never regained consciousness. She died at a nursing home 14 months later, in October 2020, at the age of 19.

Rex Meeker, the nurse anesthetist who was working with Kim as an independent contractor, testified last week that Kim waited more than five hours before he finally agreed to let Meeker call 911.

Kim’s defense was that Meeker was the person who caused Nguyen’s death. Defense attorneys argued Meeker gave two to seven times more fentanyl than he was supposed to as part of the anesthesia.

But prosecutors say Nguyen might have recovered had she been rushed to a hospital right away. Instead, she suffered permanent brain damage on the operating table, with staff too afraid to call 911 because Kim ordered them not to.

Kim and Meeker were separately ordered to pay $1 million each to Nguyen’s family in a wrongful death lawsuit settlement.

Meeker surrendered his license after the state nursing board said he had an independent duty to call 911. Kim still has his medical license, although a felony conviction may cause the state medical board to reconsider.

He faces probation to three years in prison. Sentencing is set for Sept. 8.