Pubdate: Tue, 02 May 2006
Source: Ledger, The (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Ledger
Contact:  http://www.theledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/795
Author: Brian Skoloff, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

LIMBAUGH AGREEMENT ENDS DRUG CASE

Radio Host Doesn't Admit Guilt, But Must Continue Treatment For Addiction.

WEST PALM BEACH -- Rush Limbaugh declared victory Monday in his long- 
running fight to clear his name after signing a deal with prosecutors 
that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against him in 18 
months if he complies with the terms.

Under the deal filed Monday, Limbaugh cannot own a gun, must submit 
to random drug tests and has to continue treatment for his 
acknowledged addiction to painkillers. But he didn't have to admit 
guilt and he continued to proclaim his innocence on his radio show.

"From my point of view, the end result will be as if I had gone to 
court and won, but the matter is concluded much sooner," Limbaugh 
told his listeners. "I have spent thousands of hours and millions of 
dollars with lawyers over the past 27 months fighting this at every stage."

He pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge that he sought a 
prescription from a physician in 2003 without revealing that he had 
received medications from another practitioner within 30 days.

"Do you think if there was any real evidence, we would have reached a 
settlement?" Limbaugh said on his show.

"This is a common sense resolution and the appropriate way the state 
should treat people who have admitted an addiction to prescription 
pain medication and voluntarily sought treatment," Limbaugh's lawyer, 
Roy Black, said in a statement Monday to The Associated Press.

The deal also requires that Limbaugh be available to a court officer 
for any questioning throughout the 18-month period. The Palm Beach 
County State Attorney's Office may revoke or modify the deal if he 
violates the terms. If he complies, he will have no criminal record 
at the end of 18 months.

Black said Limbaugh has seen a doctor and has been drug free for 2 
1/2 years. "Folks, I haven't even craved a pain pill since I got out 
of rehab," Limbaugh told his listeners.

Black said Limbaugh has been undergoing both scheduled and random 
drug tests "as part of the treatment program that he entered into 
voluntarily, and he has passed them all, so this is nothing new for him."

Prosecutors launched their investigation in 2003 after Limbaugh's 
housekeeper alleged he abused OxyContin and other painkillers. He 
entered a fiveweek rehabilitation program that year and publicly 
blamed his addiction on severe back pain.

The 55-year-old commentator surrendered Friday at the Palm Beach 
County jail on a warrant on the charge commonly known as doctor 
shopping, a felony that could carry a sentence of up to 5 years in 
prison. Limbaugh was booked, photographed and fingerprinted before 
being released on $3,000 bail.

The deal ends a three-year investigation that Limbaugh blasted as a 
"fishing" expedition.

Prosecutors accused Limbaugh of illegally deceiving multiple doctors 
to receive overlapping prescriptions. After seizing his medical 
records, authorities learned Limbaugh received up to 2,000 
painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months.

The single charge only represents Limbaugh allegedly illegally 
obtaining about 40 pills, said Mike Edmondson, a state attorney's spokesman.

"The information in the charging document in this particular instance 
was only evidence sufficient to support that sole count and that did 
not reflect the totality of the evidence we had in the overall 
investigation," Edmondson said.

He would not elaborate or explain why prosecutors scaled back the case.

Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney and prominent Miami defense 
lawyer, said the agreement is a standard deal for first-time, 
nonviolent drug offenders.

"The essence of a pretrial diversion is that you do not acknowledge 
guilt," Coffey said. "It doesn't either vindicate the defendant's 
innocence nor does it truly vindicate the prosecution's assertion of 
guilt. In that sense, it's a draw."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman