Author:
Al Franken
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Date Posted: 00:11:46 10/23/06 Mon
Rush Limbaugh's Criminal History 
| Name: LIMBAUGH, RUSH HUNDSON | Race: White | DOB: 01/12/1951 |  | Address:
340 ROYAL PALM WY S-304
PALM BEACH, FL 33480 | Facility: CASH BOND
Booking Number: 2006021379 | | | OBTS Number: N/A | Booking Date: 04/28/2006 | Time: 16:25 | | | Arresting Agency: 01 - PBSO | Officer: J. HOFFMAN | | Original Bond: $3,000.00 | Current Bond: $3,000.00 | | Release Date: 05/01/06 Time: 13:45 | Holds For Other Agencies:No | | Warrant Number: N/A | | | Charges: | | 893.13-3730 | FRAUD-CONCEAL INFO TO OBTAIN PRESCRIPTION | | Rush Limbaugh surrendered to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in April 2006 after being charged with doctor shopping. According to investigators, the 55-year-old Limbaugh bounced from doctors in a bid to secure multiple prescriptions for powerful painkillers like OxyContin. In a settlement with Florida prosecutors, the felony case against the conservative radio star will be dropped in 18 months if Limbaugh continues to undergo addiction counseling and is not arrested again. He also agreed to pay about $30,000 in fines and court costs. JULY 6--Rush Limbaugh was traveling with four other men--including the producers of the hit show "24"--when he was detained over a mislabeled bottle of Viagra found in his luggage during a Customs search. A Department of Homeland security passenger manifest shows that Limbaugh and his four buddies flew from the Dominican Republic on a Gulfstream IV jet owned by Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates his radio program. Limbaugh returned to Palm Beach, Florida on June 26 with Joel Surnow, "24"'s co-creator and executive producer and Howard Gordon, another of the Fox hit's executive producers (Hollywood agent Jeffrey Benson was also part of the Limbaugh quintet). With all those guys in tow, it is unclear what Limbaugh needed with those 29 100mg Viagra pills. The passenger manifest was among several documents released today by the Palm Beach County State's Attorney in response to a TSG open records request. Included in the material released were a copy of the handwritten statement Limbaugh provided investigators after he was detained upon the discovery of the impotency drug. An affidavit sworn three days later by Limbaugh was also released. In that document, Limbaugh explains that the Viagra "was intended for my exclusive use" and that the drug had been prescribed in the name of his drug treatment doctor, Steven Strumwasser, "to further maintain and protect my privacy." (4 pages) AFFIDAVIT < 1 2 3 4 > DECEMBER 5--Rush Limbaugh illegally purchased hundreds of prescription pills a month and sought a quartet of doctors to fuel his drug addiction, according to search warrant applications unsealed yesterday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Investigators executing the searches, which took place November 25 at offices used by Limbaugh's South Florida physicians, accused the radio personality of "doctor shopping," or improperly seeking out practitioners to supply him with an inordinate abundance of painkillers OxyContin, Lorcet, Norco, Hydrocodone and Kadian, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the cholesterol-lowering drug Niacin, and Clonodine, which treats high blood pressure. Under Florida law, doctor shopping is punishable by up to five years in prison. The affidavits, one of which you'll find below, indicate that authorities began investigating the talk-show host last December after meeting with Wilma Cline, Limbaugh's former maid, and her husband, who told them that they sold Limbaugh "large quantities" of pharmaceutical drugs "over the course of many years." (5 pages) AFFIDAVIT < 1 2 3 4 5 > JANUARY 23--Plea negotiations between Rush Limbaugh and Florida prosecutors stalled last month when government officials insisted that the radio host cop to a felony, rejecting a defense suggestion that Limbaugh simply enter a pretrial diversion program and "continue to receive treatment for his addiction." In an exchange of letters (copies of which you'll find below), Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, and prosecutor James Martz offered starkly different versions of the punishment Limbaugh, 53, should receive were he to admit that he engaged in "doctor shopping" to score prescription painkillers and other drugs. In his December 15 letter, Martz argued that Palm Beach investigators had evidence to support "in excess of ten felony counts" against Limbaugh. Copies of the Black-Martz correspondence were released to reporters pursuant to a freedom of information request. In November, agents executed search warrants at the offices of three Limbaugh doctors in an attempt to determine whether he illegally obtainied drugs like OxyContin, Hydrocodone, and Xanax. (4 pages) AFFIDAVIT < 1 2 3 4 > JANUARY 12--While Rush Limbaugh has regularly derided the American Civil Liberties Union and its causes, the group today came to the radio host's defense, filing a legal motion contending that Florida investigators violated Limbaugh's privacy rights when they seized his medical records last month. The ACLU's Florida branch filed the below request to submit a friend of the court brief in connection with an ongoing probe of alleged "doctor-shopping" by Limbaugh. The ACLU petition, filed with Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, seeks the "protection of every Floridian's fundamental right to privacy." We're sure Limbaugh--who has grouped ACLU members in the same category as feminazis and other mushy-headed liberals--is grateful for the support. (5 pages) AFFIDAVIT < 1 2 3 4 5 > | ID | Name/Corporation | Address | Party Type | Filing Date | | Z9018654 | LIMBAUGH, RUSH H | Case: 502006CF005460AXXXMB LIMBAUGH, RUSH | DEFENDANT | 28-APR-06 | | @492646 | LIMBAUGH, RUSH | Case: 502005CA009405XXXXMB RUSH LIMBAUGH V OFFICE OF THE STATE ATTORNEY | PETITIONER | 03-OCT-05 | | @166655 | LIMBAUGH, RUSH | Case: 502003CA013316XXOCAJ RUSH LIMBAUGH V STATE ATTORNEYS OFFICE | PETITIONER | 15-DEC-03 | | @166655 | LIMBAUGH, RUSH | Case: 502003CA013316XXOCAJ RUSH LIMBAUGH V STATE ATTORNEYS OFFICE | APPELLANT | 15-DEC-03 |
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