Anna Nicole Smith's Ex, Doctors Charged
Anna Nicole Smith
Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer-turned-boyfriend, and two doctors were charged with conspiring to furnish drugs to Smith prior to her death in February 2007.
The charges include conspiracy, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict, The Associated Press reports. Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were booked and released late Thursday on $20,000 bail. Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, a psychiatrist, was expected to surrender Monday.
"These individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a statement.
The complaint states that the doctors provided Stern with prescription drugs, including opiates and sedatives, to give to Smith between June 5, 2004 and Jan. 26, 2007.
Smith died Feb. 8, 2007 at the age of 39 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Adam Braun, Eroshevich's attorney, said Eroshevich started treating Smith in September 2006 after the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, who also died of an accidental drug overdose. Daniel's death occurred three days after Smith gave birth to her daughter, Dannielynn. Kapoor gave Smith excessive amounts of sleep aids, opiates, muscle relaxants and methadone-like drugs used to treat addiction, the complaint says.
Stern, who said he fathered Dannielynn until DNA tests proved Larry Birkhead was the father, faces six felony counts. The doctors face seven each. Arraignment dates have not been scheduled.
Stern also faced judgment on another legal front Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request to free up $88.5 million Smith was awarded from the estate of her late husband, billionaire Howard Marshall II. The assets have been frozen in a stay since the sudden death of Marshall's son, E. Pierce Marshall, in 2006.
