Woman Sentenced To 3 Years For Performing Illegal Butt Injections

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Three years in prison. That's the sentence for the woman who injected potentially deadly substances into other women who were all hoping to look better.

Mike Hellgren has more on the sentence and reaction to it.

The judge gave Kimberly Smedley three years in jail and a $25,000 fine. That's far less than the quarter of a million dollars the government wanted. They estimated she made more than $1 million giving out these injections. She said she did it to feed her family and she thought she was helping people improve their appearance.

Federal prosecutors say she injected dozens of women with dangerous, industrial-grade silicone that is typically used in paint and furniture polish to enhance their buttocks. They say she made hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it in hotel rooms across the East Coast.

"I just want privacy with my family right now. I don't have any comments," Smedley told reporters.

Smedley apologized in court, and her lawyer says her apology was sincere.

"I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that she understands that what she did was wrong," said Steven Berne, Smedley's lawyer.

But the feds hit a snag in court when a key witness, Smedley's former lover who provided security when she gave injections, told the judge the government tricked him into signing a plea deal. His outburst turned a simple sentencing into an all-day affair.

The prosecutor still had a powerful account from a dancer Smedley injected who worked on Baltimore's Block. The silicone spread into her bloodstream and sent her to the hospital.

Prosecutors say Smedley kept the silicone in a water jug and would use Krazy Glue to fill up the holes in the woman's bodies so the silicone would not leak.

A WJZ investigation earlier this year revealed the dangers of the underground silicone market.  It targets women who expected to turn out looking like Jennifer Lopez, who instead became permanently disfigured.

"She had a lot of people, even clients as recently as yesterday, wishing her luck and hoping the best for her," Berne said.

Smedley says she contacted the woman in Baltimore who was injured and eventually gave her cash to try to help her out.  Still, Smedley was ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to the hospital where that woman was treated.

Smedley will begin serving her sentence in September.