Posted on 02/02/2002 6:41:50 AM PST by codebreaker
The state attorney's office wont seek jail time for the daughter of Gov. Jeb Bush, after she was arrested this week on a felony charge of prescription drug fraud, State attorney Willie Meggs said on Friday.
Instead of the maximum 5 years in prison , Noelle Bush, 24 is facing mandatory attendance at a Leon County drug court for up to 18 months Meggs said.
And from what I have seen any pretty young lady can get away with almost anything non-violent once.
If you or I did it, we might get burned sure.. But that's still not saying there was favoritism based on who her Father is nor does it imply he acted on her behalf.
What's he supposed to do? Call the judge up in the middle of the night and tell him to give her the death penalty?
No jail time for governor's daughter
By Michael Van Sickler, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Saturday, February 2, 2002
TALLAHASSEE -- The state attorney's office won't seek jail time for the daughter of Gov. Jeb Bush, after she was arrested this week on a felony charge of prescription drug fraud, State Attorney Willie Meggs said on Friday.
Instead of the maximum five years in prison, Noelle Bush, 24, is facing mandatory attendance at a Leon County drug court for up to 18 months, Meggs said.
Noelle Bush was arrested early Tuesday after allegedly posing as a doctor in an attempt to purchase the anxiety drug Xanax, Tallahassee police said.
Florida law prohibits drug dealers or anyone with prior felony arrests from getting into the program. Drug court requires random drug tests and hearings twice a month before a judge.
Noelle Bush's attorney, Peter Antonacci, has yet to agree to drug court, Meggs said. Antonacci did not return repeated phone calls this week.
Meggs said his office won't investigate whether Noelle Bush violated the terms of her release from jail Tuesday.
"That's something the media is interested in, but we're not," Meggs said.
A pretrial release program found that she had no criminal history before allowing her to leave without paying a $1,000 bond.
But reports of a 1995 Arizona misdemeanor shoplifting offense involving a woman with the same name and birthdate surfaced this week. A student who attended a Sedona, Ariz., boarding school with Noelle Bush said she was the woman involved.
The case concerned the theft of underwear from a JCPenney store and was resolved with the payment of a $305 fine.
Also, there were reports of Noelle Bush's spotty driving record. She has been involved in four crashes in Leon County between 1999 and 2001 and has been ticketed more than a dozen times since 1995, records show.
According to published reports, she became belligerent after a September 2000 traffic crash that she caused by colliding with a truck.
She later told police that she was on prescription pills, the report stated.
State Attorney Meggs' stance on Noelle Bush's past is at odds with what the supervisor of the pretrial program said earlier this week.
Wanda Hunter, the supervisor, said that inmates are questioned about their criminal pasts and that a national, state, and local crime records search is conducted before release is considered.
In Noelle Bush's case, the searches showed no prior arrests, Hunter said.
If Noelle Bush had been asked about her criminal background and lied, that would disqualify her from the program and she may be forced to pay the bond, Hunter said Wednesday.
She said she would look into the arrest because of the case's high profile.
On Thursday, Jackie Cooper, a spokeswoman for Leon County, said she would answer all questions regarding the program and that she would check to see whether Noelle Bush had been asked any questions about her criminal history.
On Friday, Cooper said Hunter won't look into the case because inmates aren't asked about their criminal backgrounds.
Meggs said he doesn't care whether Noelle Bush was asked about her criminal past.
"Did she pull a fraud on us?" he said. "No. Are we going to look into it? No. I think she has enough problems to worry about."
I'm willing to see the unequal justice if that's what it was. So far there's just the usual anti-WoD table thumping.
Lets hope her family can help her to get straightened out.
Hopefully they won't use the Joe Kennedy solution - a Prefrontal Lobotamy.
Ummm... I believe Noelle is, as you put it, a person of color.
What was your point?
First offense of impersonating a doctor and frausdulently attempting to get prescription drugs is a non jail offense?
Ok, so explain to me how buying street drugs is worse than that? Noelle Bush hasn't admitted guilt btw. If you read the whole article, her lawyer hasn't even accepted the deal. Thwe prosecutor is starting off with this without cutting a deal. Prosecuters wait to study facts as a rule.
Within days, he is already giving her leeway, before she has even asked.
Noelle Bush's attorney, Peter Antonacci, has yet to agree to drug court, Meggs said. Antonacci did not return repeated phone calls this week. Meggs said his office won't investigate whether Noelle Bush violated the terms of her release from jail Tuesday. "That's something the media is interested in, but we're not," Meggs said. A pretrial release program found that she had no criminal history before allowing her to leave without paying a $1,000 bond. But reports of a 1995 Arizona misdemeanor shoplifting offense involving a woman with the same name and birthdate surfaced this week. A student who attended a Sedona, Ariz., boarding school with Noelle Bush said she was the woman involved.
The case concerned the theft of underwear from a JCPenney store and was resolved with the payment of a $305 fine.
Also, there were reports of Noelle Bush's spotty driving record. She has been involved in four crashes in Leon County between 1999 and 2001 and has been ticketed more than a dozen times since 1995, records show.
According to published reports, she became belligerent after a September 2000 traffic crash that she caused by colliding with a truck.
She later told police that she was on prescription pills, the report stated.
State Attorney Meggs' stance on Noelle Bush's past is at odds with what the supervisor of the pretrial program said earlier this week.
Wanda Hunter, the supervisor, said that inmates are questioned about their criminal pasts and that a national, state, and local crime records search is conducted before release is considered.
She is getting special treatment. She should be arrested for lying about prior convictions, and have to post the larger bond to bew released. But, she is not one of us.
Excellent point.
Look at it this way: They hate her because she's a Bush. She was busted for prescription drug fraud, and I'm sure they'd love to see her locked up and getting all sorts of bad press for jail time. But their mantra is "treatment, not punishment." But will they be happy to see it applied in this case, or will they be railing for her to go to prison?
Personally, I'm glad that she's getting treatment, but if she screws up again, then it's time for punishment.
OUR kids go to jail.
Who is "our"? Rather a nebulous term in this discussion.
All political kids seem to get passes. Amy Carter, Al Gore III, Karenna Gore,Chelsea Clinton Barbara, Jenna, George P. Jebbie and Noelle Bush all have had passes that we wouldn't get.
I am an equal opportunity basher. All of em should do their time like everybody else. This is a republican democracy not a monarchy.
It depends on her birthday, but the 1995 thing could well have happened when she is a minor. Did you check this out *before* you made the suggestion of fraud?
Yes and no. They need to allow her to face the consequences of her actions. But they need to fully encourage and support her while she's doing so. I do know about this, having several alcoholics in my family. Two of them faced the music and got over it, largely due to my insistence and support. Really. Part of my support was letting one relative stew in jail over a long weekend after being arrested on his second DUI instead of rushing in to bail him out. Worked wonders. The court sentenced him to "treatment" on an outpatient basis, and he turned his life around.
Did Noelle do some jail time after being picked up?
I would doubt if that applies to juvenile records. Did you check? Or are you just speculating aloud? If so, fine, just make it clear.
Now here's a reasonable and supportable assertion. *eyes rolling*
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