An actor in The Sopranostelevision series has been arrested in connection with a drug-dealing sting.
Prosecutors in Queens, New York, allege Mr Richard Maldone, who plays mobster Albert Barese, offered the animal tranquilliser ketamine free to an undercover police officer.
Such an offer is treated as a sale under New York law.
Mr Maldone has denied a charge of criminal sale of a controlled substance and has been released on bail.
"The charge against Mr Maldone is about as fictitious as the character that he plays on The Sopranos," said his lawyer Melvyn Roth.
A spokeswoman for programme makers HBO declined to comment on the arrest.
The actor could face a maximum 15 years if convicted, prosecutors said.
Mr Maldone was one of 45 people arrested. Prosecutors claim that the suspects sold marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine. They allegedly spent the profits in expensive restaurants, tanning salons and nightclubs in New York and the Hamptons.
PA