Prosecutors refuse rehab deal for Limbaugh, insist on guilty plea By Peter Franceschina Staff Writer Posted January 23 2004 Palm Beach County prosecutors rejected an overture last month from Rush Limbaugh's attorneys that would have allowed the conservative commentator to enter drug rehabilitation rather than face criminal charges for prescription drug abuse. Prosecutors say they think they have evidence that Limbaugh committed at least 10 felonies by illegally obtaining overlapping drug prescriptions, according to documents released to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Thursday. They offered to end the investigation if Limbaugh pleaded guilty to a single felony for "doctor shopping" and agreed to a three-year term of probation, a deal that Limbaugh's Miami attorney Roy Black called "preposterous" on Thursday. Limbaugh, 53, admitted in October to a prescription drug addiction as the result of chronic back pain and entered a monthlong treatment program. He has not been charged with any crimes. Black wrote to Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer on Dec. 11, asking whether his office's investigation could be resolved by having Limbaugh enter an intervention program that allows drug offenders to seek treatment and not face criminal convictions. James Martz, the prosecutor heading the investigation into Limbaugh's prescription drug use, responded to Black with a Dec. 15 letter saying such an intervention program was not appropriate. The program is typically offered to minor, first-time drug offenders. Martz noted that prosecutors reviewed records from a pharmacy near Limbaugh's $24 million Palm Beach mansion coupled with records associated with four search warrants served on Limbaugh's doctors for his medical records. Martz said those records "indicate evidence that would support in excess of 10 felony counts for violations" of doctor shopping, which makes it illegal to obtain prescriptions secretly from more than one doctor. Martz offered to end the investigation through a plea agreement. "We believe this case can be settled without a trial," he wrote in the Dec. 15 letter. Prosecutors said Limbaugh would have to admit to doctor shopping, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Limbaugh would be placed on three years of probation, required to undergo a treatment program approved by a judge and subjected to random drug tests during that time. "Mr. Limbaugh would provide community service during his probationary period in a manner approved by the court," Martz wrote. "We would suggest that those efforts be utilized to raise public awareness of the dangers of prescription drug addiction." And since Limbaugh does not have a criminal record, the prosecutors' offer would have allowed the judge to withhold a formal finding of guilt, meaning Limbaugh would not be a convicted felon if he successfully completed all terms of his probation. It was unclear Thursday whether the prosecution offer is still on the table. "This proposed resolution is offered as an alternative to unsealing your client's medical records and in an effort to bring this case to a swift and just resolution," Martz wrote. Prosecutors declined to comment on the letters, which were released to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in response to a request under the state's public-records laws. Prosecutors consulted with the Florida Attorney General's Office and the Florida Bar before determining the letters are not confidential and had to be released as public records. "My request of Mr. Krischer was for the same treatment anyone else in this situation would receive. The state's response was preposterous, and I declined to respond to it," Black said in a statement Thursday. Black said in his statement that he expected prosecutors to keep his communications with them private, and he noted that his Dec. 11 letter was marked confidential. Black has been critical of the investigation, which he has said is politically motivated, and of leaks about the case to the media. "What is even more troubling is this office's continued violations of Florida law and Bar ethics," Black said. "The disclosure of these highly confidential communications violate the Florida statutes, the rules of procedure and evidence, and the Florida Bar rules. Once again, because the state has no case against Mr. Limbaugh, they continually seek to discredit him in the media." In a Dec. 18 letter to Krischer asking for an investigation into alleged leaks from his office, Black wrote that he had been contacted by the media the day before and asked whether Limbaugh was pleading guilty to a felony. "The planting of a story that a suspect, in a highly publicized investigation, was about to plead guilty clearly interferes with the investigation and the adjudicative process. No leak could have more impact than this," Black wrote. "Any person would know that this type of story would have a major impact with potential jurors and others." While the exchange between prosecutors and Black was going on, Black also was fighting to prevent prosecutors from gaining access to Limbaugh's medical records by arguing they were improperly seized with search warrants rather than being subpoenaed after giving Limbaugh a chance to contest the issue in court. The fight over Limbaugh's medical records now is with the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. "It is certainly clear by now that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to prescription pain medication. The latest round of search warrants seizing Rush's medical records will show that he had serious medical problems, was prescribed pain medication and took large amounts of it. He subsequently became addicted to these highly addictive substances," Black wrote in his Dec. 11 letter. "He has admitted as much on his radio show. Not only that, he checked himself into one of the nation's finest drug rehabilitation centers. He has followed his rehabilitation with almost daily sessions with his own psychologist following up on the treatment he received at the center." Since Limbaugh admitted his problem and sought treatment, Black wrote that an intervention program would be appropriate because it would "require him to continue his addiction treatment." Black wrote, "I believe this proposal would be in keeping with the public interest. The public is better served by treating addicts as patients rather than criminals." http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...an23,0,6767877.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines =========== For a lil reference: "Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." -- Rush Limbaugh. October 5, 1995 show transcript. "What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use, too many whites are getting away with drug sales, too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too." -- Rush Limbaugh. October 5, 1995 show transcript. "It's kind of like sentencing. A lot of people say that we have a heavy sentence for this crime and a light sentence for another crime, and what we ought to do is reduce the heavy sentence so it's more in line with the other. Wrong. In most cases we ought to increase the light sentence and make it compatible with the heavy sentence, and be serious about punishment because we are becoming too tolerant as a society, folks, especially of crime, in too many parts of the country." -- Rush Limbaugh. October 5, 1995 show transcript. its simply amazing what a lil does of empathy can do to change the cold heart of a Republican
"Prosecutors say they think they have evidence that Limbaugh committed at least 10 felonies..." Schadenfreude!
re: its simply amazing what a lil does of empathy can do to change the cold heart of a Republican I would be surprised if he changed his public stance one iota if he gets off.
its simply amazing what a lil does of empathy can do to change the cold heart of a Republican Woofer, good point. I have often seen things like an accident, a serious illness, an unjust job dismissal, losing their health insurance a legthy bout of unemployment, fighting in an unjust war etc. thaw the hearts of Republicans. Has anyone heard? Is Rush still ranting about coddling ciminals and people seeking "victim status" and trying to avoid "personal responsibility" ?
The purpose of the justice system isn't to hand down ironic punishments. It's to be fair to the accused and to society. Yes, Rush is a hypocritical moron whose rants on drug use are ignorant and self-serving. But addiction warrants rehabilitation and treatment, regardless of what some idiotic talkshow host says.
Is it possible his hubris could lead to a jury trial? That a few of the voters wrongly purged from the rolls in 2000 could wind up in the jury pool, have their votes now count? Bestill my bleeding heart.
Kind of like what a Democrat would have felt about the Iraq war if they were living in Saddam's Iraq and had their children incarcerated, tortured and murdered? Was that an ignorant statement? Yes, because it's IGNORANT to ascribe opinions and characteristics across ALL people in a group. I'm Republican, but I'm for rehab for users, not prison. Do you think that Rush is your average Republican? If he is, I'll change party affiliation today. chump.
I think that was his point. He called it an ignorant statement. Cohen, if you don't think that Rush's opinions are that of most Republicans, how do you explain his ratings? Maybe most isn't an appropriate word, but a lot of Republicans and conservatives obviously agree with Rush. Hence dittoheads. Me? Well, I personally feel sorry for Rush just like I feel sorry for anyone who battles addiction. I hope and pray that he continues to seek help for his problem. I don't think that jail time is a necessary deterrent for addicts if possessing drugs is their only crime. I'm not going to change that view just because an ignorant talk show host is being forced to reckon with his hypocritical past.
I think the prick should be allowed to pop as many pills as he likes. He should also be beaten senselessly by anyone who has ever been put in prison for a drug "offense".
One doesn't have to line up lock-step to be a listener. The best thing about Rush is Paul Schanklin. Rush is an egomaniac no doubt. I agree with him a lot of the time but now always. I'm really surprised that he's not volunteering to go to prison!
Rush would be a chump if he didn't prefer prison over rehab. I don't have a problem with it for offenses like this. It wasn't like he allegedly did it to make a profit. It was for his own personal use, by all accounts. I have chronic back pain. It ain't fun. I also listen to him in the car sometimes. Obviously not because I agree with him, but because he's occasionally entertaining and I like to see what BS his branch of the Republican Party is puttin' out.
Let's face it Rush is a HYPOCRITE and a knowing tool of the wealthy who pay him handsomely to fool the dittoheads. However, he isn't a criminal type. It hurts for me to say this, but Rush doesn't desrve prison time. Of course that is true for more than a half a million other non-violent drug offenders being imprisoned by the PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.
Rush is to Republicans like Jim Rome is to sports fans. They are both egomaniac's that think they are always right. Mostly people listen to them for the entertainment value and know that they are full of it on certain issues. Not all Jim Rome fans are clones.
Conspiracy theory, huh? I bet Rush is paid based on advertising revenue not a salary to be the mouthpiece for "the rich." How many owners can one man have?
You mean like the Washington Times and the New York Post are still in existence because they can sell enough ads and subscriptions to keep going? IIRC, he is paid a salary, and his shows probably now merit that from viewers, but also I believe he was subsidized heavily in the early going, much like the Post and Times are to this day. And, one man can have a lot of owners. Glynch: I agree with you that he, like many others, shouldn't have to do time... but that doesn't stop me from grinning a bit as I watch him squirm.
I'm sure he is paid a base salary, but like Donovan McNabb, it is heavily laden with incentive bonuses. Why do you say that anyone "subsidized" Rush anymore than they do in any radio personality to whom they pay some salary? He was an unknown from Sacramento who in fact had been fired several times from radio gigs. He is a success because he persevered and he got the ratings; those weren't given to him. This mysterious "they" could have found someone better to "prop up." Rush is not that articulate. Neither is he that brilliant. He is pretty pedestrian if you ask me... but he is unique... or was.
Rush does pretty well... Rush: Nine-Figure Dittohead by Josh Grossberg Jul 17, 2001, 10:35 AM PT Good news for Dittoheads. Outspoken conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has signed a record nine-figure contract extension with Premiere Radio Networks that will keep his top-rated The Rush Limbaugh Show and its 90-second daily commentary, The Rush Limbaugh Morning Update, on the air through at least 2009. That means liberal-leaning Americans will have to endure another eight years of Limbaugh's trademark leftist-baiting that has garnered him national syndication on more than 600 radio stations across the country and an audience of more than 20 million listeners. While PRN refused to comment on the value of the deal, insiders reportedly say it's worth a whopping $30 million a year, or $250 million total, making the conservative firebrand's show the priciest ever in the history of syndicated radio. And making out like a bandit, Limbaugh will also get a hefty $35 million signing bonus. All in all, the new contract far surpasses the $18 million five-year deal that shock jock Howard Stern recently signed in December with Infinity Broadcasting. "I am frequently asked if I expected this level of success, and the honest answer is yes. At least it was the goal, so why should I feign surprise when it happens?" Limbaugh said in a statement released Monday. So much for humility. The 50-year-old commentator and passionate defender of the Hillary-hating Right also said he plans to keep on ranting until America caves in to his conservative agenda. "I have said that I shall not retire until all Americans agree with me," Limbaugh added. "That is still operative." Along with his show, which is the highest-rated syndicated radio program in America, PRN will also continue distributing Limbaugh's monthly newsletter, the Limbaugh Letter, to his more than 400,000 subscribers. "Rush's program will continue to be a part of the radio landscape for a long time, and that's great for broadcasters nationwide," PRN president and chief operating officer Kraig Kitchin told the Hollywood Reporter. Not to mention the vast, right-wing conspiracy supporting him. http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,8552,00.html From E-Online. He's a pretty pricey pony, giddup. We don't need to worry about him paying his legal bills. America, the land of opportunity. Google can be amazing.
