Conviction made in Miami "pumping party" case

A transgendered woman who helped perform silicone injections around the country has been sentenced to five years in prison in the "pumping party" death of a Miami woman. Broward County, Fla., circuit judge Peter Weinstein on Wednesday gave Donnie "Viva" Hendrix the maximum sentence for her role in the death of secretary Vera Lawrence. "The dangerous, high-risk behavior outweighs any mitigating factors," Weinstein said. Hendrix, 34, was part of a team that performed the back-alley cosmetic procedures, popular among transgendered people, to enlarge body parts. Lawrence, who wanted to enhance her buttocks, died two years ago in a Miramar, Fla., apartment where Hendrix and partner Mark Hawkins were pumping people with silicone. Hendrix was convicted of practicing medicine without a license. Hawkins, convicted of third-degree murder, faces 15 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year. Hendrix will get credit for having spent the last two years in jail, during which she says she was assaulted to the point that she needed a double mastectomy. Hendrix's attorney, George Reres, said his client would have been placed in a women's prison had she undergone planned surgery to complete the sex change--canceled when she was arrested.