California's "Butt Lady" Libby Adame Faced Sentencing for Her Role in Actor’s Death

Libby Adame, a woman from California nicknamed "Butt Lady," was convicted of second-degree murder after she reportedly injected silicone in the buttocks of an actor who later died, according to the Los Angeles Times. After a little more than a day of deliberation, a jury found Adame guilty, and now, people want to know what her sentence is.

Not only is it unlawful to practice medicine without a license, as Adame did, but her negligence led to the death of actor Cindyana Santangelo. Per KTLA 5, she received the injections from Adame in her home. She later died from a complication of the procedure called fatal silicone embolism. According to the National Institutes of Health, this happens when silicone enters the bloodstream and travels to the brain or lungs.

According to NBC Los Angeles, Adame was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. She was found guilty of second-degree murder and practicing medicine without certification. She was not a certified doctor, and even if she was, it is not protocol to perform silicone injections in the butt in a patient's home.

In 2017, the FDA warned against using injectable silicone in the body for cosmetic purposes. When silicone is used in breast implants, the shell of the silicone prevents it from migrating throughout the body. By injecting the silicone straight into the body, in this case, for butt injections, there is a high risk of the silicone moving to other parts of the body and into the bloodstream.

Per Fox 11 in Los Angeles, Libby Adame performed the procedure on a conscious Santangelo at her home on a massage table. Santangelo's husband testified that his wife "had blood coming from each butt cheek" during the injections and that she had a hard time breathing during the ordeal.

Less than a year before Adame was found guilty of second-degree murder in the case of actress Santangelo, she and her adult daughter, Alicia Galaz, were both found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a similar case, according to Fox 11. This one involved 26-year-old Karissa Rajpaul, a client who received injections from Adame in 2019.

Adame and Galaz were originally sentenced to four years and four months and three years and eight months, respectively. However, they were also awarded time served for the period of time they wore monitoring devices at home. Despite that arrest and conviction, Adame was accused of and found guilty of doing the same thing with another fatal result.

Deputy District Attorney Lee Cernok said, per NBC Los Angeles, that Adame was "on notice of the dangers" that practicing medicine without a license and performing illegal butt injections hold. Despite Adame denying that the work that resulted in Santangelo's death was hers, she was found guilty and faced a much harsher sentence the second time around.