Official: 3 conspired in Smith’s death

March 14, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anna Nicole Smith’s lawyer-turned-boyfriend and two doctors conspired to provide the Playboy Playmate with thousands of prescription pills before her 2007 fatal overdose, California’s attorney general said Friday.

“What we have in this case is a conspiracy among three individuals,” Jerry Brown said at a news conference Friday. “Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler. Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor are 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.”

Brown added, “This was done knowingly and it’s done with tragic consequences.”

Howard K. Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor were released late Thursday after posting $20,000 bond. Charges include conspiracy, unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.

Dr. Khristine Eroshevich was expected to surrender Monday. Her attorney, Adam Braun, acknowledged Eroshevich wrote some of the prescriptions using fictitious names for Smith, but it wasn’t intended to commit fraud.