Drug Dealer Blamed in Death Sentenced

A drug dealer whom actor Carrol O’Connor blamed for the suicide of his cocaine-addicted son was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail, fined $1,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

But because of jail overcrowding, Harry Thomas Perzigian, 40, probably will spend only about 80 days behind bars, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Richard Neidorf said.

Perzigian, who had faced up to six years in prison, was convicted Jan. 11 of possession of cocaine and furnishing cocaine to Hugh O’Connor, 32, who shot himself to death last March.

The 72-year-old actor said he concurred with the sentence imposed on Perzigian.

Carrol O’Connor is best known as the character Archie Bunker in TV’s “All in the Family” and more recently for his role in TV’s “In the Heat of the Night,” on which the younger O’Connor also appeared.