LIMBAUGH TURNS HIMSELF IN FOR DOCTOR-SHOPPING

WEST PALM BEACH -- Conservative talk show king Rush Limbaugh reported
to jail Friday afternoon, charged with the rarely prosecuted crime of
doctor-shopping, a felony.

Limbaugh, booked and out of jail within an hour, will likely never
have to darken the courthouse door or plead guilty to the crime, though.

According to an agreement he is expected to sign Monday with the Palm
Beach County State Attorney's Office, Limbaugh will enter a common
court diversion program where the charge will be totally dropped after
18 months.

Limbaugh, an admitted prescription drug addict, must continue
addiction counseling and take regular drug tests as part of the agreement.

He pleaded not guilty to the crime -- a third-degree felony punishable
by up to five years in prison -- and posted the $3,000 bond.

The specter of his criminal investigation -- looming since 2003 -- now
over, Limbaugh felt a "great burden lifted from his shoulders," his
attorney, Roy Black said at a press conference late Friday.

"What he told me is, 'This is the first day of the rest of my life,' "
Black said.

Former housekeeper Wilma Cline triggered the investigation after
telling prosecutors that she supplied Limbaugh with thousands of doses
of OxyContin and other painkillers from 1998 to 2002.

Investigators seized Limbaugh's medical records in 2003, igniting a
legal battle all the way to the Florida Supreme Court arguing a right
to privacy. The records were clearly used by prosecutors to piece
together evidence for the charge, according to a court affidavit.

In the affidavit, prosecutors lay out a timeline in 2003 when Limbaugh
received pain medication from Jupiter doctors as well as a doctor in
New York and a local ear specialist -- violating a standard drug
agreement he made with his Jupiter doctors and violating the law.

Money Laundering Task Force agents investigated his prescription and
medical records. Jupiter Dr. Lawrence Deziel told investigators in
January that he had no knowledge of Limbaugh receiving prescriptions
from any other doctor besides a fellow one at the Jupiter Outpatient
Surgery Center.

As part of the agreement, Limbaugh will have to pay $30,000 to cover
the costs of the investigation plus the $30 per month that people in
the pre-trial intervention program normally have to pay.

A spokesman for the state attorney's office said a minimum of
information was included in the affidavit, just enough to support the
charge.

"The one single count does not reflect the totality of the evidence
that we have," said spokesman Mike Edmondson.

Black declined to respond to the comment, saying he did not know what
the purpose of saying that was.

Black emphasized that Limbaugh has not had any relapses since entering
drug rehabilitation in October 2003 and that the law is not meant to
punish addicts, but the people re-selling the painkillers on the streets.

"The agreement... makes good common sense," Black said. "It is really
unfair to prosecute them or make some sort of a big case out of it.
The idea is to help the person overcome the addiction.

"No one is suggesting Rush Limbaugh did anything to hurt anyone other
than himself," Black said.

Black repeatedly over the years raised questions on national talk
shows about how Limbaugh could have doctor-shopped when two of his
four doctors were in the same practice. Black was not including,
though, the doctor in New York.

Limbaugh decried the investigation to his millions of listeners as a
political witchhunt headed by a Democrat, State Attorney Barry
Krischer. For months and months, his Web site featured a link to click
on to read about the state attorney's fishing expedition.

That link was gone Friday, replaced by an announcement of the
agreement with prosecutors.

Within just a few hours of Limbaugh's arrest and release, the
political blogosphere was abuzz with the news -- and dramatically
different takes on it.

"The Left Coaster," a liberal blog, greeted the news with this: "Raise
yourself a cold one at the end of an interesting week. Rush Limbaugh
turned himself in to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office late today, and
was arrested on a fraud charge related to prescription drug abuse."

Not surprisingly, a blog called "The Conservative Trail Head" had this
take: "Radio commentator, Rush Limbaugh was arrested on bogus charges
this afternoon. These ridiculous charges are nothing but the left's
attempt to smear Mr. Limbaugh's credibility as a conservative radio
host."

Limbaugh, 55, who has a home and office in Palm Beach, was not at the
news conference Friday night.

"I would imagine he's out celebrating," said another of his defense
attorneys, Mark Shapiro.

At least one attorney who's watched the case said it sounded like a
good resolution for everyone.

"It avoids a criminal conviction for Limbaugh and gives the state
attorney some closure and allows him to resolve the case, " said
Donnie Murrell.