Anna Nicole Smith's Boyfriend Cleared of Drug Conviction

Jan. 6, 2011 — -- Nearly four years after Anna Nicole Smith's death, a judge dismissed the drug conspiracy convictions of her psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, and boyfriend/lawyer, Howard K. Stern.

Today, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry declared that Stern never had the intent to defraud when he used his name and others' to obtain prescriptions for Smith while keeping her privacy intact.

Perry also found that Eroshevich, who obtained a Vicodin prescription for Smith under a false name, wasacting out of concern for the former Playboy model. Perry sentenced Eroshevich to no more than one year of probation and a $100 fine.

Moments after Perry handed down his ruling, District Attorney Steve Cooley denounced the dismissal of convictions and said he would appeal, saying Perry's decision diminishes the problem of prescription drug abuse.

At a trial last October, Eroshevich was convicted of unlawfully prescribing Vicodin by fraud. Stern was found guilty of giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions. During the same hearing, Smith's doctor, Sandeep Kapoor, was acquitted on all counts he faced.

The defendants were charged with conspiracy, excessive prescribing of opiates and sedatives to an addict, and fraudulently obtaining drugs by using false names.

Lawyers for Stern, Kapoor and Eroshevich argued during the trial that their clients were innocent because they were only helping someone with documented pain and depression.

Smith was found dead of a prescription drug overdose in February 2007. Her troubles with prescription drugs were well known. Though her E! reality TV show earned high ratings, she made headlines for appearing intoxicated in public, including at the 2004 American Music Awards.

In an exclusive interview 10 years ago, Smith told ABC News that she had serious drug problems.

"I was on prescription pain medication and I was taking too much and I went into a coma for that," she said.