Howard K. Stern Charged In Anna Nicole Smith Death

Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer, and two doctors were charged Thursday with conspiring to furnish drugs to the former Playboy Playmate prior to her death in 2007.

The complaint alleges that Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, 40, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, 61, and Stern, 40, provided drugs to Smith between June 5, 2004, and January 26, 2007.

Stern and Smith exchanged wedding vows in a commitment ceremony on Sept. 28, 2006 on a catamaran off the coast of the Bahamas. They made their home there, allegedly to avoid a paternity test of her daughter, Dannielynn.

Smith died on Feb. 8, 2007 after she was found unresponsive in a room at the Hard Rock casino in Hollywood, Florida. The Broward County coroner's office ruled that Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the "major component." No illegal drugs were found in her system.

Kapoor and Stern were charged with one count of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance between June 9, 2004, and Sept. 22, 2006. Eroshevich and Stern were charged with unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance between June 5, 2004, and Jan. 26, 2007.

Kapoor and Eroshevich each was charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by "fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." Each also was charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address.

Kapoor and Stern were charged with one count of "prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict." Eroshevich was charged with the same crime in a separate count.

Arraignment dates for the defendants have not yet been scheduled. Bail was recommended at $20,000 for each.
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