Attorney General On Anna Nicole Drug Case: "This Is Bad Business"

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has spoken out about the neverending Anna Nicole Smith case, in which Howard K. Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich were each charged with 8 felonies for providing the late actress with "highly addictive" drugs prior to her 2007 death.

At a press conference today, Brown said, "What we have in this case is a conspiracy among three individuals - Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler, and Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor were prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict using false and ficticious names all in violation of the law...It was done knowingly, and it was done with tragic consequences."

Brown continued to talk about the meds that were given to the late Smith, and he even stated that the doctors "violated their ethical obligations as physicians." Brown added, "These three individuals repeatedly and excessively furnished thousands of prescription pills to Anna Nicole Smith, often for no legitimate medical purpose. We're not talking a few dozen, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of pills...The law's been violated, it's a conspiracy, this is bad business."

In addition to the felony conspiracy charges, Stern and the doctors were also charged with eight other felonies, including obtaining an opiate prescription by fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; obtaining an opiate prescription by giving a false name or address; prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict; and unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance.

Brown told reporters that one count ALONE usually carries a three-year sentence, so we don't even want to know how much jail time these three are looking at if they're convicted of all of these charges!

Stern and Kapoor were released last night after posting $20,000 bail, and Eroshevich is expected to turn herself in on Monday. All three are scheduled for arraignment on May 13.