The "Butt Lady," an unlicensed body sculpting expert known to her Southern California clients, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on Wednesday for the March death of an actress who succumbed to a silicone injection. It was the second fatal consequence of her illicit practices, with prosecutors revealing that Libby Adame, 55, of Jurupa Valley, California, had previously administered a butt lift procedure that claimed the life of another victim.
Cindyana Santangelo, 59, an actress who appeared in "Married... With Children," "ER," and "CSI: Miami," was the latest victim. Authorities stated that she suffered an embolism caused by the injections, which the Food and Drug Administration had previously warned could lead to serious injuries or death.
In October, a California Superior Court jury in Los Angeles County found Adame guilty of second-degree murder in Santangelo's death and practicing medicine without a license. "You were on notice of the dangers," Lee A. Cernok, deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, remarked during the sentencing. "Three hundred forty-one days later, she did it again."
In 2019, Adame and her daughter Alicia Galaz were convicted of involuntary manslaughter but acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of Karissa Rajpaul, 26. Rajpaul also suffered an embolism after the same procedure, which the FDA had warned could be dangerous. Adame was sentenced to four years and four months in prison in that case but was released after serving her time.
"While still on probation for the involuntary manslaughter conviction, Adame again engaged in the business of providing injections for cosmetic purposes," Judge Sam Ohta of the Los Angeles County Superior Court stated during her sentencing.
According to testimony, Adame visited Santangelo at her Malibu home on March 24 and administered several injections of silicone oil to her buttocks as part of an augmentation procedure. However, soon after, Santangelo began experiencing difficulty breathing and bleeding from the injection sites. The silicone oil had traveled through Santangelo's bloodstream, causing a pulmonary embolism—a blood clot that impedes blood flow to an artery in the lung, Judge Ohta explained.
In 2017, the FDA issued a warning about the use of injectable silicone, stating that it was being falsely marketed as approved by federal regulators. The FDA emphasized that injectable silicone differed from the silicone used in federally approved breast implants, which are enclosed in a shell. "If the silicone migrates beyond the injection site, it could cause an embolism (blockage of a blood vessel), stroke, infections, and death," the FDA warned.
J. Michael Flanagan, Adame's lawyer, stated in an email on Thursday that his client planned to appeal her conviction.
During the sentencing proceedings, Santangelo's son, Dante Santangelo, expressed his disbelief that someone who showed no regard for human life should be allowed back on the streets. "Clearly, this has happened multiple times," he said.
