Limbaugh Reaches Settlement in Drug Case

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A three-year investigation into drug use by Rush Limbaugh ended abruptly when the conservative commentator was booked on a single charge of prescription fraud in a deal his attorney says spares him a trial.

The charge will be dropped if Limbaugh continues treatment, attorney Roy Black said Friday.

"He feels that a great burden has been lifted from his shoulders," he said. "What he told me is that this is the first day of the rest of his life."

Limbaugh surrendered at the Palm Beach County Jail and was booked on a warrant charging him with "doctor shopping," when a patient illegally deceives multiple physicians to receive overlapping prescriptions.

The 55-year-old commentator left an hour later, after he was photographed and fingerprinted and he posted $3,000 bail, said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office.

Under the terms of the deal with prosecutors called a pretrial diversion, to be filed Monday, Limbaugh will be cleared of the charge if he stays clean for 18 months and doesn't violate any laws, Black said.

Limbaugh has publicly acknowledged being addicted to pain medication.

According to the warrant, sometime between February and August 2003, Limbaugh withheld information from a medical practitioner from whom he sought to obtain a controlled substance or a prescription for a controlled substance.

As a formality, Limbaugh entered a not guilty plea to the charge, spokesman Tony Knight said. The radio giant has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation.

"He was in high spirits," Knight said. "It was all a formality. It's a concluded deal."

Under the deal, Limbaugh also agreed to pay the state $30,000 to defray the public cost of the investigation and must pay $30 per month for the cost of supervision, during which time he will continue regular drug tests.

Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state attorney's office, said prosecutors had not yet received the signed agreement.