Posted on 04/28/2006 3:11:12 PM PDT by kristinn
Edited on 04/28/2006 3:20:03 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Rush Limbaugh's attorney has issued a statement announcing a settlement of the Florida prosecutor's investigation into alleged doctor shopping by Rush Limbaugh.
Details have been read by Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. Basically, the charge of doctor shopping is dismissed, with some conditions.
In response to media and other inquiries, Roy Black, Rush Limbaugh's attorney, released the following statement today concerning a settlement agreement with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office to end the investigation of Mr. Limbaugh:
"I am pleased to announce that the State Attorney's Office and Mr. Limbaugh have reached an agreement whereby a single count charge of doctor shopping filed today by the State Attorney will be dismissed in 18 months. As a primary condition of the dismissal, Mr. Limbaugh must continue to seek treatment from the doctor he has seen for the past two and one half years. This is the same doctor under whose care Mr. Limbaugh has remained free of his addiction without relapse.
"Mr. Limbaugh and I have maintained from the start that there was no doctor shopping, and we continue to hold this position. Accordingly, we filed today with the Court a plea of 'Not Guilty' to the charge filed by the State.
"As part of this agreement, Mr. Limbaugh also has agreed to make a $30,000 payment to the State of Florida to defray the public cost of the investigation. The agreement also provides that he must refrain from violating the law during this 18 months, must pay $30 per month for the cost of "supervision" and comply with other similar provisions of the agreement.
"Mr. Limbaugh had intended to remain in treatment. Thus, we believe the outcome for him personally will be much as if he had fought the charge and won."
The actions taken today are as follows:
-- The State Attorney has filed a single charge of doctor shopping with the Court. The charge is being held in abeyance under the terms of an agreement between the State and Mr. Limbaugh.
-- Mr. Limbaugh has filed a plea of "Not Guilty" with the Court.
The formal agreement between Mr. Limbaugh and the State Attorney will be filed with the Court on Monday. The terms of the agreement are substantively as follows:
-- Mr. Limbaugh will continue in treatment with the doctor he has seen for the past two and one half years.
-- After Mr. Limbaugh completes an additional 18 months of treatment, the State Attorney has agreed to drop the charge.
-- Mr. Limbaugh has agreed to make a $30,000 payment to the State of Florida to defray the public cost of the investigation.
And I would presume that Florida law would then allow the arrest to be expunged, thus making it legal for Mr. Limbaugh to claim, under oath, that he has never been arrested...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Apr 28, 2006 (AP) Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said.
Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the state attorney's office, said agency spokeswoman Teri Barbera.
The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and was released an hour later on $3,000 bail, Barbera said.
The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription, Barbera said.
See, this is what I like about FreeRepublic. While every MSM and radio host is still stuck on stupid (arrested arrested arrested) we already know the rest of the story.
Bwaaaaaa-Haaaaaah.......
He WAS arrested.
Rush might want to think about moving down to Mexico now that it looks like they're going to legalize all drugs down there.
:-)
Shep Smith is gay. Very, very gay.
Savage is just a loon. It's sad. He really is quite smart, PhD and all. And he is right about a lot of issues. But his over-the-top, divisive show does more harm than good for the movement. He has made himself rich with it, which I guess is the point.
I used to like his show but I really can't stand it anymore. Luckily there are better alternatives now here, like Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt and Laura Ingram, to name three. We now have THREE full time conservative talk stations in Portland.
I believe that will start to influence elections soon.
Rush might want to think about moving down to Mexico now that it looks like they're going to legalize all drugs down there.
Maybe they'll bring back the old border radio X stations.
Now I remember, part of the charge they said on NBC was "concealing information about an investigation" ... but that may not have been all of what Williams said.
I'm familiar with the law.
No matter how you dress it up, he plead out.
Shouldn't the 'Charge Dismissed' be removed from the title of this thread, for clarity? They just now levied the charge (none existed before), and it won't be dismissed for months. I think 'reaching a settlement' is a more accurate description of this events.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Rush_Limbaugh_makes_deal_in_doctor_0428.html
Rush Limbaugh has entered into a settlement agreement with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office to end their probe of allegations that the conservative talk show host went doctor shopping, according to a press release issued by Limbaugh's attorney, RAW STORY has found.
The Palm Beach Post reported that Limbaugh turned himself in to Florida authorities on Friday after a warrant was issued.
"The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and bonded out an hour later on a $3,000 bail," said a spokesman for the State Attorney's office, according to the Palm Beach Post.
According to attorney Roy Black, a single charge of doctor shopping will be filed in court by the state attorney, and as long as Limbaugh "completes an additional 18 months of treatment" by his physician, and pays $30,000 "to the State of Florida to defray the public cost of the investigation," the charge will then be dropped.
In November of 2003, investigators raided four Florida doctor offices after Limbaugh's former maid claimed that she and her husband sold the conservative pundit drugs. Limbaugh was accused of "doctor shopping" in order to obtain an "inordinate abundance of painkillers," which included "OxyContin, Lorcet, Norco, Hydrocodone and Kadian, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the cholesterol-lowering drug Niacin, and Clonodine, which treats high blood pressure" according to documents obtained by The Smoking Gun.
I think the DA would love to see Rush muzzled as long as possible, and may have strong-armed a pound of flesh in this "settlement". Time will tell as Rush will either comment soon, or keep mum on everything.
Leni
It is much like paying for a ticket received hundreds of miles from your home for a moving violation that you want to dispute. The price to go to the court and fight it is too high, so you pay the fine and be done with it.
He made a business decision.
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