Did Rush Limbaugh Get Off Easy in OxyContin Case?

While critics say conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh got off easy in his deal last week with Palm Beach County prosecutors to avoid drug charges, some legal experts say the settlement was a fair one for a first-time drug offender.

But other experts say Limbaugh, 55, avoided prosecution as a result of an aggressive, high-priced legal fight by his attorney, Roy Black of Miami. Black challenged prosecutors' effort to obtain Limbaugh's medical records and took that fight all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

On Friday, attorneys for Limbaugh announced that their client reached an agreement with the office of Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer that will spare him jail time, as long as he completes 18 months of drug treatment. He surrendered Friday at the Palm Beach County jail on a warrant formally charging that he withheld information from a medical practitioner. That charge is known as doctor shopping and is a third-degree felony.

Limbaugh -- a multimillionaire who lives part of the year in a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach -- also agreed to pay the county $30,000 to cover the cost of its investigation and $30 a month in supervision costs. If Limbaugh complies, the one count of doctor shopping will be wiped off his record in 18 months.

Limbaugh also has entered a plea of "not guilty," according to a statement released Friday by Black. Limbaugh did not return calls for comment.

Michael Edmondson, a spokesman for Krischer, said this was a typical outcome for a first-time drug offender.

Limbaugh first came under investigation by Krischer's office in late 2003 after The National Enquirer reported on allegations made by Limbaugh's housekeeper that he had purchased more than 30,000 prescription pain pills from her and her husband, including OxyContin, hydrocodone, and Locet, in 2001 and 2002.

Shortly after the article appeared, Limbaugh admitted he had a drug problem and entered a five-week drug treatment program in Arizona. He claimed that he started using the powerful painkillers because of a severe chronic back problem.

Prosecutors alleged that Limbaugh obtained prescriptions from multiple doctors for the highly addictive drug OxyContin. That drug is sometimes called "hillbilly heroin" because of its powerful nature and widespread use in rural areas.

In a prepared statement Friday, Black said Limbaugh did not engage in doctor shopping. The statement also said that Limbaugh has remained clean since participating in the 2003 treatment.

Under the deal to put the charge in abeyance, Limbaugh agreed to participate in a pretrial diversion program. It is designed for first-time drug offenders, Edmondson said.

The program places terms and conditions on defendants in order to have charges dropped. As part of the deal, Limbaugh must submit to drug tests and continue his drug rehabilitation program with Dr. Steven Strumwasser. He is also forbidden from possessing a firearm or weapon during the 18 months.

In Palm Beach County, Edmondson said, drug offenders do not face incarceration unless they've failed opportunities to deal with their addiction and have turned to crime to maintain their drug habit.

Limbaugh "got what's fair," said Fred Haddad, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney. "That's what they should do for all first-time offenders." Haddad said it helped Limbaugh that he had entered treatment voluntarily in 2003 before any charges were filed.

Gerald Lefcourt, a New York-based attorney and the former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, agreed that Limbaugh got a pretty common deal for first-time drug offenders.

The irony in this case, he said, is that Limbaugh long advocated tough punishment of drug offenders. In 1995, he famously said that drug users "ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."

"It would be a shame if he got what he advocates for everybody else," Lefcourt said.

Experts said Limbaugh probably got a good deal for several reasons.

Lefcourt said low-income drug users generally sell drugs or commit other crimes to finance their drug habit, while Limbaugh could afford to pay thousands of dollars for his drugs.

Limbaugh also could afford a top defense attorney who was able go on the offensive, said Ricardo Bascuas, a University of Miami criminal law professor and a former assistant federal public defender in Miami.

On the other hand, Krischer's office can make the case that it established the right to use a search warrant to secure medical records and forced Limbaugh into long-term drug treatment. Krischer may have avoided the appearance of holding the rich and powerful to a different standard of justice than the poor are held to.