Thaindian News

London, Jan 7 (ANI): A judge hearing the late Anna Nicole Smith’s case has dismissed drug conspiracy charges against her boyfriend and psychiatrist.

A jury in October found Howard Stern and Dr Khristine Eroshevich guilty of conspiring to obtain prescription drugs for the former Playboy model by fraud.

Los Angeles judge Robert Perry ruled at a sentencing hearing he did not believe she was an addict under anti-drug laws.

Smith died in 2007 at 39 from a prescription drug overdose. The pair was not charged in her death.

“The court has no doubt that abuse of prescription medications is a troubling problem for many persons,” the BBC quoted Judge Perry as saying in his ruling.

“There is no doubt that there are doctors who are nothing more than pill pushers and should be prosecuted and imprisoned. This case did not involve such doctors,” he said.

He also found that although Stern had used his own name and others to obtain painkillers for Smith, he did so to protect her privacy.

Dr Eroshevich had also been convicted of obtaining Vicodin by fraud in October, but Judge Perry reduced that conviction to a misdemeanor.

Smith’s former doctor, Dr Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted of all charges against him in October. (ANI)