PHOTOSHoward K. Stern Plans to Fight Charges
March 13 2009, Published 5:28 a.m. ET
UPDATE:
Sandi Gibbons, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Distric Attorney's office tells OK!: “If convicted each defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of five years and eight months in state prison. However, a judge has the complete discretion in sentencing. It could range anywhere from probation to jail to prison. We are not going to make any further statement at this time... Their arraignment is scheduled for May 15 in department 30 of the L.A. Superior Court Division. The second doctor Khrisitine Eroshevich is expected to surrender, and her arraignment will probably be the same day. Stern and Kapoor are out on $20,000 bail each. That’s the amount we asked for, and that’s the amount we asked for third defendant.”
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After posting bond last night, Howard K. Stern spoke to an Entertainment Tonight producer, who reports that the late Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer definitely plans to fight the charges raised against him: six felony counts for allegedly conspiring to provide Anna with massive amounts of prescription drugs.
Howard's dad, Leon Stern, tells ET the charges are "not true." In January 2007, just one month before she passed away, Anna Nicole herself denied that Howard was doing anything wrong.
"It's not true. So not true that he's (Howard) always giving me drugs," she told ET at the time.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown said angerous cocktails of prescription drugs were given to Anna Nicole "almost to the point of stupefaction" and eventually led to her death.
Brown calls Howard the "principal enabler" and says Howard and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor conspired in "prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict and using false and fictitious names all in violation of the law and all in furtherance of a conspiracy."
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Along with Dr. Kapoor, Dr. Khristine Erosehevich has also been charged in the case. She told ET in March 2007 that Anna was prescribed "maybe four of five medications" at the time of her death, "Some of them were routine and some were as needed. We were talking about even cutting back."
Howard's mugshot (Photo: Whittier Police Department):
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