LIMBAUGH PLEA DEAL FLATLY REJECTED

WEST PALM BEACH - Prosecutors rejected a deal Rush Limbaugh's attorney
suggested that would have seen the conservative radio commentator
enter a drug intervention program rather than face charges over
illegally obtaining prescription painkillers, records show.

Instead, Palm Beach County prosecutors wanted Limbaugh to plead guilty
to the third-degree felony of ``doctor shopping'' - visiting several
doctors to receive duplicate prescriptions of a controlled narcotic.

According to records of exchanges between prosecutors and Limbaugh's
attorney, the prosecutors' offer included three years of probation,
participation in a drug treatment program and random drug testing.
Limbaugh has been under investigation for months, has not been
arrested, and no charges have been filed.

State Policy Cited

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, dismissed the prosecutors' offer and
pointed in his letters to a state policy against prosecuting addicts.
Black said Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer had told him
prosecutors instead go after drug dealers and doctors who illegally
prescribe medications.

Limbaugh's attorneys began discussing the case with prosecutors in
early October - more than a week before Limbaugh stunned listeners by
admitting he was addicted to prescription painkillers and would leave
his show for five weeks to enter rehab.

The letters and court records were first obtained by the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel through a records request and disclosed in a story the
newspaper published Friday.

In an attempt to head off charges, Black wrote prosecutors Dec. 11 to
suggest that his client enter a court-sponsored drug intervention
program without a guilty plea.

``I believe this proposal would be in keeping with the public
interest,'' Black wrote. ``The public is better served by treating
addicts as patients rather than criminals.''

Prosecutor James Martz wrote back Dec. 15 that an intervention program
alone was not sufficient. He said prosecutors had enough evidence to
support more than 10 felony charges.

Martz said a guilty plea would allow prosecutors to drop their efforts
to unseal Limbaugh's medical records.

Deal Called `Ludicrous'

On. Dec. 22, Limbaugh's attorneys denied to reporters that he was
seeking a deal. It was unclear Friday whether the prosecution offer is
still on the table.

In a statement Friday, Black called the prosecutors' offer
``ludicrous.'' He said he was asking ``for the same treatment anyone
else in this situation would receive'' and said the state's response
was ``consistent with their double standard in this case.''

``The facts are: Mr. Limbaugh went to these doctors to relieve
chronic, intractable pain; there was no doctor shopping,'' Black said.

Black criticized the letters' release, saying it violates the Florida
statutes, the rules of procedure and evidence, and Florida Bar rules.
In his Dec. 11 letter marked ``confidential,'' Black listed Florida
statutes that showed why it should not be released.