Breaking news out of California…former lawyer/boyfriend/leech of Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern, has been arrested and charged in conjunction with an ongoing investigation into the shady causes of Anna Nicole’s death:

Stern and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich are being charged with a total of eight felonies.

According to the L.A. County D.A., the conspiracy counts allege the three defendants conspired to furnish controlled substances to Smith between July, 2004 and January 2007.

Stern and Kapoor were charged with one count of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. Eroshevich and Stern were charged with unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance between June 2004 and January 2007.

Kapoor and Eroshevich were each charged with obtaining a prescription for opiates by “fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” They were both also charged with one count of obtaining a prescription for opiates by giving a false name or address.

Kapoor and Stern were also charged with one count of “prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict.” Eroshevich was charged with the same crime for separate prescriptions.

Bail is recommended at $20,000 for each defendant. We know both Stern and Kapoor bailed out Thursday night.

As we first reported, California drug officials recently raided the Los Angeles office of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, looking for evidence against Stern.

Stern has denied doing anything illegal in connection with drugs and Anna Nicole.

Back in February, police raided the office of Dr. Sandeep looking for evidence and anything that would link the good doctor to Howard:

The California Medical Board got a warrant to search Dr. Sandeep Kapoor’s Studio City office this morning. Informed law enforcement sources tell us they are looking for prescriptions Kapoor may have written for Howard K. Stern. We’re told Medical Board officials want to know if Stern may have used Kapoor to score drugs for Anna — something Stern has vehemently denied.

The California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, has been conducting an investigation into Kapoor since 2007. He has also been under investigation by the Medical Board for his prescription practices. Thirteen days before Smith gave birth to Dannielynn he wrote a methadone prescription for her under an alias, Michelle Chase. Under California law, it’s illegal to prescribe a controlled substance under a false name.

Howard, for his part, continued to protest his innocence:

Howard K. Stern just released this statement to TMZ: “Dr. Kapoor never prescribed Anna Nicole medication in my name — and that is what the Medical Board will find out.”

Here’s my question…I wonder if this will somehow tie into the death of Anna Nicole’s son Daniel.  If you remember, a Bahamian jury decided that Daniel died of an accidental overdose…but one of the drugs found in his system was methadone, and Anna Nicole had caught him stealing it from her.  If it is found that she had methadone illegally, provided by this doctor and Howard, then would that somehow figure into Daniel’s death as well?

When Anna Nicole died, there were 11 prescriptions found in Anna Nicole’s room, and all were authorized by Eroshevich, who had also traveled to Florida with Anna Nicole.  Also, more than 600 pills, including more than 450 muscle relaxants, were missing from bottles of medication that were at the most five weeks old.

I’ve always wanted to believe Howard was telling the truth; but I guess that, as most things in Hollyweird turn out to be, it was just wishful thinking.  More on this story as it develops, and you can find GlossLip’s archive of Anna Nicole stories here.

Source: k