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Palm Beach Post - Limbaugh linked to painkillers
PalmBeachPost.com ^ | October 3, 2003 | John Pacenti and Mary McLachlin

Posted on 10/03/2003 12:31:25 AM PDT by HAL9000

WEST PALM BEACH -- A former housekeeper for Rush Limbaugh claims she supplied the conservative commentator with thousands of doses of painkillers, some of which may have come from a mom-and-pop pill mill busted earlier this year in Lake Worth.

The housekeeper and her husband, residents of The Acreage, told their story to a Miami lawyer, and then to the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office after a promise of immunity from prosecution. Then they sold the tale to The National Enquirer, which splashed the allegations across their front page in Thursday's edition under the headline: "Rush Limbaugh Caught In Drug Ring."

Whether State Attorney Barry Krischer is interested in prosecuting Limbaugh isn't known. But prosecutors rarely pursue drug addicts unless they catch them with drugs. The Enquirer story stopped short of saying Limbaugh was caught red-handed.

Krischer's office would neither confirm nor deny the allegations Thursday. But sources said prosecutors would not be surprised if Limbaugh contacted them.

Limbaugh, 52, wasn't talking, either, but he was communicating with powerhouse criminal defense attorney Roy Black of Miami, who had no comment.

Limbaugh, in a statement posted on his radio show's Web site, said: "I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully."

Limbaugh wasn't on the air Thursday. Instead he gave the keynote speech at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Philadelphia. He made no mention of the drug allegations, but focused instead on his resignation as an ESPN sports analyst late Wednesday.

He gave up the job three days after saying on the sports network's Sunday NFL Countdown that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

The sources for the Enquirer's exposé were former housekeeper Wilma Cline, 42, and her husband, David, 41, who claim they were Limbaugh's drug suppliers from 1998 to 2002 and that he paid them tens of thousands of dollars.

They said they sold him 11,900 tablets over six months in 2001. Many exchanges of drugs and money took place at a Denny's restaurant parking lot on Belvedere Road, they alleged.

Trail leads to pharmacy

The Enquirer story said the couple got nervous and contacted Edward Shohat, a noted Miami criminal defense lawyer. Late last year, Shohat escorted them to Palm Beach County prosecutor James Martz.

Given immunity, the Clines became part of a drug probe that led to the arrest of Louis and Gloria Beshara last May. Authorities believe that the Clines' illegal supply of painkillers came from the Besharas.

Investigators tracked 450,000 doses of the powerful narcotic painkiller hydrocodone that were dispensed at the Besharas' small pharmacy, World Health Association, in suburban Lake Worth. The Besharas were charged with trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in hydrocodone, a painkiller similar to morphine.

During a six-month undercover operation, law enforcement agents from the multi-agency task force also seized 73,000 narcotic tablets from the Besharas' home in Loxahatchee and from the pharmacy, and unearthed $806,000 in cash.

Louis Beshara's attorney, James Eisenberg, told The Post he knew of no connection between the Clines and the Besharas.

"Those names (the Clines) have never come up. Never," Eisenberg said. "There is nothing in the case about Limbaugh, about the Clines, about anything like that. There is no connection as far as I can tell."

Court documents show as many as four confidential informants were involved in the Beshara case, but Eisenberg said he didn't believe they included Wilma or David Cline.

The Enquirer said the Clines backed up their claim of being Limbaugh's drug suppliers by providing e-mails that Limbaugh allegedly sent them with such messages as, "You know how this stuff works... the more you get used to, the more it takes."

The messages also mention "small blue babies," an apparent reference to the painkillers.

According to Wilma Cline's story, Limbaugh's descent into drug addiction happened after she told him that her husband was hurt in a fall from a ladder and that he was taking some hydrocodone.

"To my astonishment, he said, 'Can you spare a couple of them?' " she told the Enquirer.

She said David Cline was impressed by who Limbaugh was and gave him 10 pills from his prescription.

The next day in the laundry room of Limbaugh's $24 million mansion, he asked his $370-a-week housekeeper for more pills, Wilma Cline told the tabloid. Soon, she said, the couple was supplying Limbaugh with 80 pills a month.

When her husband's doctor stopped prescribing him painkillers, she said, Limbaugh got upset and yelled at her, "I don't care how or what you do but you'd better -- better! -- get me some more."

With the help of an unnamed houseman, she said, she continued to supply Limbaugh illegally, hiding the pills under his mattress so his wife wouldn't find them. Several months later, Limbaugh told her he would be undergoing drug rehabilitation and wouldn't need the drugs.

But one month later, Limbaugh called and asked if he could get an even more powerful painkiller: OxyContin, Wilma Cline told the Enquirer.

She started to keep a log of her purchases, she said, and within the first 47 days she delivered 4,350 pills to Limbaugh.

She said Limbaugh became increasingly paranoid, one time groping her to see whether she was wearing a wire for the authorities.

He tried to kick his habit again at a New York hospital to no avail, she said, and piled up drug bills of $80,000.

In 2002, Wilma Cline said, a Palm Beach attorney showed up on her doorstep, gave her a check for $100,000 and made her sign a promissory note, but said the "loan" would never be collected. Four months later, in November, the attorney gave her a check for $100,000 and told her not to give Limbaugh any more pills.

The attorney also told her to hand over the computer retaining Limbaugh's e-mails, Wilma Cline said, but she took the hard drive from another computer and smashed it in front of him. Then the Clines sought legal help.

Enquirer Editor-in-Chief David Perel declined to say whether the Clines were paid for their story, but said the tabloid does pay for interviews. The Clines could not be reached Thursday.

David Cline was arrested for cocaine trafficking in 1982 in Collier County. He posted bond to get out of jail and then skipped, living as a fugitive in New York and Fort Lauderdale under different names until surrendering in 1989. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

In April 2000, while he and his wife were allegedly supplying Limbaugh with drugs, Cline was arrested in Palm Beach County and charged with identity theft, having a counterfeit or stolen driver license and a false vehicle registration, possessing marijuana and resisting arrest. He wound up with a combined sentence of time served, 18 months probation, community service and court costs.

The injury that put a hydrocodone prescription into David Cline's hands happened in March 1998, while he was doing odd jobs at the Palm Beach home of Patricia Bradshaw.

A pull-down attic ladder broke, sending him crashing to the floor. The Clines sued Bradshaw for $75,000, but Circuit Judge Jorge Labarga ruled against them in January 2001.

Under questioning by Bradshaw's lawyer, Cline said he had made $40,000 to $50,000 a year and that he had not filed any income tax returns for the preceding five years. He also said he had used an alias to avoid paying child support for two children from a previous marriage.

The Clines live at the end of a dirt road, where some of the 2-acre lots are fenced, with locked gates and "No Trespassing" and "Beware of Dog" signs.

Their house is a 10-minute drive from where Louis and Gloria Beshara live in the Fox Trails community near Lion Country Safari. Their Besharas' house is surrounded by a high stone wall.

Crews from CNN and the NBC network joined local reporters in a stakeout on the road in front of the Clines' yard Thursday. Scott and Cathy Pauldino, who live across the street, said the Clines had always been helpful and neighborly in their five years as neighbors.

"They're good people," Cathy Pauldino said.

Limbaugh called good boss

Wilma Cline had told them Limbaugh was a good person to work for, but revealed no details about the commentator's personal life.

Limbaugh's friends also defended him.

Advertising executive Dina Sontag, who worked with Limbaugh from 1993 to 1996, said she never saw Limbaugh take any drugs.

"As far as I know, it's all ludicrous," she said.

Limbaugh's fill-in host on Thursday, Sacramento broadcaster Tom Sullivan, alluded briefly to the fact that "Rush is in the headlines today."

"Nobody better to talk about Rush than Rush," Sullivan said at the beginning of the three-hour broadcast. "And when he gets back, he will, I'm sure, delve into all of the news about him as he always does."



TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: barrykrischer; davidcline; edshohat; gloriabeshara; jamesmartz; limbaugh; louisbeshara; royblack; rushlimbaugh; wilmacline
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To: A. Pole
What is wrong with you? What Rush paid his maid is NOT the issue here.

Try and focus on the fact that we have a coordinated media attack on everybody and everything conservative right now.

Aren't the implications of that fact a little more important than what agreement a radio talk show host had with his housecleaner? America may be a lot closer to tyranny than we want to admit if the media can control us in that way.

To me, this issue is even more important than whether or not Rush really did have an addiction problem.

121 posted on 10/04/2003 8:00:43 AM PDT by snopercod (The road is a place apart ruled by no government but natural law. It's one characteristic is freedom)
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To: Ichneumon
Fishy item #3: Would a lawyer ever do something like this? I think that it would be instant disbarment.
122 posted on 10/04/2003 8:09:18 AM PDT by AmishDude
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To: MattAMiller
Interesting!

Did you see the section where he lists some of the wackier searches people have tried?

http://www.etymonline.com/search.htm
123 posted on 10/04/2003 8:12:12 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Cacophonous
I read the article and drew my own conclusion as to what type of characters they are. The perception is there.

sw

124 posted on 10/04/2003 8:16:01 AM PDT by spectre (SW)
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To: Cacophonous
My sister's house is 7000 sq ft, my aunt's is around 9,000. They use the same maid service. Four women show up and work for about 3 hours, one day a week at my sisters, and 2 days a week at my aunt's. Most of the homes they clean are smaller and don't take as much time, so they clean several houses per day, 6 days a week.

If the maid was at Rush's full time, that is $9.25/hr. That is probably the going rate, and what you would pay anyone from Merry Maids, or any such service. Unskilled home health care workers -- like aids that help to take care of the elderly -- only get about $9 - $10 per hour.

But I would bet that this was only a part time gig, and she was either a part time worker or had another house or two that she attended. If full time, she got the going rate for such work.
125 posted on 10/04/2003 8:17:09 AM PDT by RedWhiteBlue
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To: HAL9000
Oh, oh the cats out of the bag. Now you know how "Rush" earned his name of "Rush". It's because as a tot he was cute to watch when he got a rush from illegal drugs. - Just kidding. I know a lame joke.
126 posted on 10/04/2003 8:19:46 AM PDT by nmh
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To: spectre
OK. I agree they sound crooked.
127 posted on 10/04/2003 8:46:52 AM PDT by Cacophonous
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To: RedWhiteBlue
That sounds about right.
128 posted on 10/04/2003 8:47:36 AM PDT by Cacophonous
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To: novacation
I'm willing to bet that the $370/week is not for 40 hours. Probably part time only.
Then with the usual class envy, she tried to set Rush up for a big problem that he might pay blackmail. Rush is stronger than that.
With the number of people around him all the time, he couldn't have ingested this many pills. He is sometimes in golf tournaments with a large gallery following for hours. When did he ingest pills there?
None of this makes sense, and when Roy Black and Rush get done with this, Rush will break the back of The Inquirer.
If the maid is part of a drug ring, it speaks to thoroughly vetting whoever is in your employ and in your house with access to your computer, checkbooks, etc. It is not an indictment of the employer or of other persons in her immediate circle.
I live on a dead-end road with numerous and constantly changing druggies at the far end. We have done everything we can with diminishing resources to get then cleaned out of there. I have lived here for 10 years and while I can probably ID most of their cars, etc, that doesn't make me a participant in their dealings.
Think it thru, everybody. How could any one person ingest that many pills and not get seen and still be able to function in the fast paced world Rush is in?
129 posted on 10/04/2003 8:48:24 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (ridesthemiles)
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To: A. Pole
Excuse me: He's paying a woman $20,000 to clean his sinks and toilets, which makes her perhaps the highest paid cleaning woman in America. Furthermore, I doubt very much that his house is the only one she cleans. A job is worth what it is worth to an employer - not to an employee. It's one thing to criticize outsourcing (a problem created by Government, not business), but entirely another to pick on the wages paid by Americans to low-skilled employees - wages which virtually anywhere else on the planet would make them rich.
130 posted on 10/04/2003 8:51:04 AM PDT by andy58-in-nh
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To: LRS
You know one that has me bugged about all of this that I haven't seen anyone mentioning? Just how does one play a pretty decent 18 holes of golf while being this strung out on painkillers?

I have debated responding to this, because my response will show that Rush could be capable of functioning while abusing Pain-Killers. So I will caveat it with the fact that I think the Cline's are lying through their teeth to make some money. I think in the end we will find that Rush is clean, or at the worst borrowed a couple pills a time or two when his ran out.

But back to your question " You know one that has me bugged about all of this that I haven't seen anyone mentioning? Just how does one play a pretty decent 18 holes of golf while being this strung out on painkillers?" -- the same way that Brett favre could win the NFL MVP and lead his team to the Super Bowl while strung out on Painkillers (Vicodin).

131 posted on 10/04/2003 8:56:07 AM PDT by commish (Freedom Tastes Sweetest to Those Who Have Fought to Preserve It)
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To: commish
Let me ask you, as you seem to know about Farve's addiction than I, how much was he taking, and, for how long?

As for my own feelings on what is going on, I think Rush was set up...
132 posted on 10/04/2003 9:14:13 AM PDT by LRS
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To: LRS
Favre was addicted to Vicodin. Not sure about the length, but I think it started with an injury during his college days, or while he was with the Falcons his first couple years. He finally cleaned up in the late 90's.

I to believe that Rush will be cleared, or at the most be on the periphery of this. But, Favre is an example of someone who funtioned at a world-class level while taking pain killers.

Now the amount that Rush is supposed to have ingested is Ludicrous, I think favre said he was taking something on the order of 5-10 pills a day. The Clines are claiming Rush took upwards of 50. That is just not realistic.

133 posted on 10/04/2003 9:17:54 AM PDT by commish (Freedom Tastes Sweetest to Those Who Have Fought to Preserve It)
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To: HAL9000
Groping? Another groping? RATS in full propaganda mold...
134 posted on 10/04/2003 9:19:25 AM PDT by Libertina
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To: spectre
nice people like the Limbaughs.

Sadly, when you're a public figure like Rush, you may not be able to afford to be 'nice' when it comes to bringing people into your home, whether he hired her directly or Cline came from a service.

135 posted on 10/04/2003 9:39:08 AM PDT by radiohead
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To: HAL9000
David Cline was arrested for cocaine trafficking in 1982 in Collier County. He posted bond to get out of jail and then skipped, living as a fugitive in New York and Fort Lauderdale under different names until surrendering in 1989. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

And this is the maid's husband?

Seems Rush had better hire a security company that does better background checks, don't cha think??

136 posted on 10/04/2003 9:41:53 AM PDT by technomage
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To: commish
Thanks. I have never read Farve's book, and didn't know how bad of an addiction he had. I recall that he was addcited, but didn't know for how long, or, how much he was taking.

I should come clean somewhat here on this. I consider myself to be addcited to similar drugs (everything but oxycontin). It is the result of a nasty accident I went through many years ago, and subsequently, I was (and still am) prescribed many of these same pills for the pain I go through, and have gone through.

Now, I don't want to overblow this. My doctors pooh pooh when I say that I am addicted, for I do limit how much I take, to no more than just one pill, and even then, I only take that at night. Still, this has gone on for years now, and, when I do stop for a few days, I feel it, despite being a rather headstrong person, who went through and beat some serious drug use in my younger years. So, I would like to think I know a little bit about this subject, from personal experience.

Among the things that I think I know about the subject, are how easy it is to get hook, and, the overall effects. I said that will not take anything during the daylight, for that's when I have to drive, and I know the danger I would present operating a vehicle under those circumstances. Further, I know that when the pill hits me, my speech becomes slurred. Now, I realize how the body becomes accustomed to a certain dose level, and then one needs stronger and stronger doses (thankfully, by limiting myself, I have been able to keep that part pretty much under control), but I can not honestly see how in the world Limbaugh, given his age, which is just a year younger than mine, and, given the fact that he allowed his physical condition to slide by pretty badly until he dropped his weight, and, given the fact that he is diabetic, another trait I share with him, BTW, that he could take the sort of doses that are being implied by the reports by his maid, and still function well enough to play a decent 18 holes of golf, among other things. A younger man, in tip top shape, like Farve was, could have fucntioned pretty well with some strong dosages, but, I know I couldn't, and, I doubt Limbaugh could (but, hey, stranger things have been known to happen, so I won't say that it is impossible.)

Now, through all of this, I am not trying to say Limbaugh is completely clean. I certainly do not know this. He may have had a problem, and may still have one. Still, there is too much that smells about this whole deal. That is why I think he has been set up, perhaps with some experts in the background at some point. I think this is why he made the staements he made yesterday, and what he wouldn't say (plus, he was probably told to keep his mouth shut by his attorney.) He may not know, just what all is about to come out (did the maid ever gain access to his computer; what all did she record; are there some thing that may have been innocent in reality, but, that could be twisted in other direction; etc.?)Since the maid claims that Limbaugh had given her money at some point, I even suspect blackmail was possible. Bottom line: I'll not pass judgement until more actual facts, and the other side of the story, are available...
137 posted on 10/04/2003 10:06:42 AM PDT by LRS
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To: snopercod; Bluntpoint
Regardless of whether Rush had a drug problem or not, what they are attempting is a danger to all of us.

That would be where I diverge with you. I think IF Rush is a dopehead of that magnitude and in his position, that we GAVE our enemies the ammo with which to wound him and us by default. For example, were it discovered that President Bush behaved anywhere near as characterless as Clinton, I would consider that a betrayal and be angry as well. A conservative has to walk the walk to a degree by nature.

All your claim about our enemies in the media and politics is spot on, so I ask...why help them out? Journalism schools have always produced left of center folks who are crusaders by nature and we know that. We can only hope to stem that tide a bit. What we can do though is hope our leaders' behavior will pass scrutiny. As for Rush personally, IF he is guilty of this level of drug addiction which is way past "pain management" then I hope he gets help and no neither will I forget all the good he has done but I will lament his slide and the advantage our foes gained from it.

Respectfully.

138 posted on 10/04/2003 10:32:23 AM PDT by wardaddy (The Lizard King it was.....)
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To: A. Pole
If we were smart we wouldn't be reacting to this hit piece on Rush. Just because the attorney leaks little bits and pieces of the so called evidence does NOT mean any of it is true.

I'll wait for some official verified information before I'll believe the attorney for drug dealers.

139 posted on 10/04/2003 10:36:24 AM PDT by OldFriend (DEMS INHABIT A PARALLEL UNIVERSE)
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To: HAL9000

140 posted on 10/04/2003 10:37:44 AM PDT by Registered (Gray Davis won't be baaaaahhck)
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