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Friday, October 29, 2010

Anna Nicole's boyfriend found guilty of conspiracy (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern, was found guilty of two conspiracy counts relating to using a false name to secure prescription drugs for the late Playboy model.

Stern, 41, who was Smith's longtime lawyer and boyfriend, was acquitted on seven counts of obtaining and providing drugs to an addict but convicted of two conspiracy counts of aiding and abetting.

Smith died at a Florida hotel room in February 2007 after an overdose. She was 39.

"What the jury did find me guilty of were two conspiracy counts limited exclusively to my name being used on medication for Anna," Stern said after the verdict.

"Now, this was done to protect Anna Nicole's privacy and it was nothing more than that."

Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 62, was convicted of four counts of fraudulently obtaining medication when prescribing drugs to the starlet under false names.

Stern and Eroshevich could face up to three years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Another physician in the case, 42-year-old Sandeep Kapoor, was cleared of all charges. None of the defendants were charged with causing the ex-model's death.

"I think the jury did their best. I'm just happy this is over," said Eroshevich.

Her lawyer, Bradley Brunon, said "everything Kris did was done with Anna's best interests at heart."

The verdict came after a months-long trial and 13 days of deliberations. Sentencing is scheduled for January 6.

During the trial, prosecutors said the trio gave the immensely famous Smith the powerful opiates and sedatives she craved despite the lack of a legitimate medical need.

A 2007 autopsy found that Smith's death -- a worldwide media sensation at the time -- was due to a lethal cocktail of anti-anxiety medication, methadone, antibiotics and other prescription drugs.

It came just months after her son, 20-year-old Daniel, died from an overdose in the Bahamas in September 2006.

Born Vickie Lynn Marshall, Smith got married in 1994 to Texas billionaire oil tycoon Howard Marshall, who she had met earlier while working at a strip club. She was 26 at the time and he was 89.

Marshall died in 1995 after a 14-month marriage. But his adult son E. Pierce Marshall contested Smith's claim to the billionaire's inheritance in a case that reached the US Supreme Court.

The larger-than-life platinum blonde was regarded as one of the world's most desirable women in the 1990s when she replaced supermodel Claudia Schiffer as Guess Jeans model. She was also Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1993.

However, Smith fell out of the spotlight over the next decade, often appearing to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol in public.

Her daughter, Danielynn, is being raised by the child's father, Larry Birkhead.

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