Posted on 09/11/2002 6:52:59 PM PDT by paltz
The pill-popping daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush faces possible felony charges after she was caught with crack cocaine in her shoe at a drug rehab center, police said yesterday.
Noelle Bush, 25, who was busted in January on prescription drug charges, was in hot water after a worker at the center in Orlando found .2 grams of crack in her shoe Monday night.
Bush was not immediately arrested because the worker ripped up a sworn statement, Orlando police said.
"She has not been arrested, and she is still living at the center," said Sgt. Orlando Rolon.
Cops had not questioned Bush about the cocaine as of late yesterday and said they were still investigating.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted of cocaine possession - a felony. She also could face jail time on the previous drug charge for violating the rules of the rehab center.
Jeb Bush, who hopes to win a second term in November, had little to say about his daughter's latest lapse.
"In this case, I'm not a governor, I'm a dad," he said. "All I can do is pray. She needs to accept responsibility. She knows we love her."
The trouble started about 8 p.m., when one of the center's patients called cops about Bush. Workers at the Center for Drug Free Living gave police a white substance that tested positive for cocaine, authorities said.
Center staffer Julia Elias told cops she found the crack in Bush's shoe, but she later ripped up a sworn statement, apparently on the urging of supervisors, cops said.
Officers collected the torn-up statement as evidence and planned to reinterview other workers, Rolon said.
Police may be hoping to build a stronger case, especially because the defendant is the governor's daughter, legal experts said.
"Without a witness who's willing to come to court, they don't have much," said lawyer Yale Galanter, who defended O.J. Simpson in his Miami road-rage case.
Possible third strike
If proven, it would be the third drug lapse this year for President Bush's troubled niece.
She was ordered to undergo rehab after she tried to pick up a fake prescription for Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, at a Tallahassee drugstore in January.
Bush was found in contempt of court in July after a worker caught her carrying prescription pills. A judge sent her to jail for three days for that violation.
She has a previously scheduled court date Friday.
It was unclear how the latest possession case would affect that hearing.
Beheading and stoning? Aren't these punishments done in Arab countries? If conservatives were like Arabs, they would not have impeached Bill Clinton, and instead clammored for the death of Monica Lewinsky for adultery, and ask that Hillary Clinton wear a burkha instead of being allowed to represent New York state in the Senate.
As for condemning this behavior, that is another story.
I listened while five different women claimed your former ideal president made unwanted sexual advances on them (and one rape) - and the press ignored it and you excused it.
If you're looking for a photo of a hypocrite, check the bathroom mirror.
There are banned drugs that should be legalized--LSD, ecstasy, ayahuasca, marajuana, and above all peyote--certainly in Native American religious ceremonies.
Cocaine and heroin should be illegal, and punishment for those who sell them should be severe.
The addictive personality is a horrible disease. Pushers who prey on victims of it should be incarcerated and removed from society.
Jeb Bush and his wife deserve profound sympathy and public support.
You should give it to them. Anything else is unworthy of you.
So did she have coke or not? Who is this "concerned citizen"?
You're asking me to be politically correct about the gender of a FR handle...HOW ABOUT...no...I think that's unnecessary...especially in the name of "diversity". If I don't know the name of the title it was previously posted under..then you'll just have to deal with the article again...gee my heart is really bleeding here for you.
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