Anna Nicole Smith's Confidantes Unlikely to See Jail Time After Guilty Verdicts, Legal Experts Say
Smith's boyfriend and psychiatrist found guilty of prescription drug fraud.
Oct. 29, 2010— -- The guilty verdicts this week for two of Anna Nicole Smith's closest confidantes in a trial that focused on the former Playboy model's drug use are unlikely to lead to any jail time, legal experts said today.
"It really was a complete waste of time and effort," noted criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos told "Good Morning America."
"I suspect if not but for Anna Nicole Smith, this case would never have been prosecuted."
Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, a psychiatrist, and Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, were found guilty Thursday.
Stern was found guilty of giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions, the Associated Press reported. Eroshevich also was convicted of unlawfully prescribing painkiller Vicodin by fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for early next year.
Although the two could face up to three years in prison, Geragos and former prosecutor Robin Sax predicted jail time was unlikely. Both considered the trial a win for the defense despite the guilty verdicts because they were handed down on a scant few of the many charges against them, the others much more serious
"Of all the counts, that was it? Not so much of a win," Sax said. "Here you only have a conviction based on one incident based in November 2006 when Howard Stern's name was used on a prescription."
The verdicts, however, could mean the loss of Stern's law license and Eroshevich's medical license. Smith's primary doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted of all charges.
Lawyers for Stern, Kapoor and Eroshevich had argued during the trial that their clients were not guilty because they were only helping someone with documented pain and depression.
Geragos suggested that the judge, who often seemed irritated with the prosecution during the course of the trial, could go so far as to throw out the entire case.
"He wasn't impressed with the prosecution because there wasn't much to be impressed by," he said.
As for Stern's obtaining Smith's prescriptions under his own name, Sax said, welcome to Hollywood.
Geragos said it was not uncommon in Hollywood for celebrities to get their medications under someone else's name for privacy reasons.
"It's a way of protecting yourself," he said.
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