Update, Noelle Bush: Jeb is campaigning and planning to cut back on drug rehab. Whoa, it's almost karmic the way these hypocritical repubs aren't getting away with anything.
Governor's daughter faces prescription fraud charge
Noelle's problem is a `private matter,' Bush says.
BY PETER WALLSTEN, JACQUELINE CHARLES AND LESLEY CLARK
pwallsten@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush's 24-year-old daughter was arrested early Tuesday after a late-night visit to a drive-through pharmacy at which authorities said she tried to illegally obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
Noelle L. Bush, the middle of Bush's three children, was held in the Leon County Jail for about four hours after a pharmacist at a 24-hour Walgreens store alerted police that she was using a suspicious prescription.
``This is a private matter,'' the governor told reporters Tuesday following a previously scheduled press conference on Florida's nursing shortage. ``It's really hard for our family. . . . I would just urge you to allow it to be as private a matter as possible.''
Bush and his wife, Columba, also issued a statement earlier in the day that stated: ``This is a very serious problem. Unfortunately, substance abuse is an issue confronting many families across our nation.''
POLITICAL ISSUE
It's also an issue facing decision-makers in Tallahassee, where the Bush administration has been criticized for proposed budget cuts to drug treatment programs in the community and in prisons.
The arrest comes as Jeb Bush campaigns for reelection this year; he has made drug treatment and prevention major themes of his first term.
Bush previously has acknowledged that one of his children had dealt with a substance abuse problem, but he never revealed which one. And Columba Bush has worked on behalf of a Florida group that educates families about drug abuse.
Sources say Noelle Bush has been in and out of rehabilitation programs for years. She has entered an Atlanta rehab center at least once since her father became governor.
A check of Florida public records showed that Noelle Bush has had several traffic citations but no criminal history in this state.
According to a detailed report compiled by the Tallahassee Police Department, a woman claiming to be a ``Dr. Scidmore'' left a voice-mail message about 11:15 p.m. Monday at the Walgreens for a Xanax prescription. The caller failed to say how many pills were prescribed.
Twenty minutes later, Noelle Bush called the pharmacist on duty, Carlos Zimmerman, and asked him if the prescription had been called in. He checked the voice mail, and heard the prescription for Xanax.
``The prescription sounded suspicious and they didn't leave a quantity, so I saved it on the voice mail,'' Zimmerman told police.
Fifteen minutes later, Noelle Bush called back looking for the prescription and he told her there had been no quantity given.
Ten minutes after that, the woman claiming to be Scidmore called back with the quantity.
`FAKE' PRESCRIPTION
Zimmerman told police he then called the doctor's answering service, and Dr. Dale Wickstrom called back telling him that Scidmore ``is moving and isn't really practicing now, and [Wickstrom] said it was a fake and to bust her,'' according to Zimmerman's statement to police.
Minutes later, Noelle Bush called a third time asking about the prescription, and Zimmerman told her it would be ready in 40 minutes. When she arrived at the drive-through in her white Volkswagen at about 1 a.m., Zimmerman called the police.
Police listened to the voice-mail messages left at the pharmacy, and, one officer said, ``My observation is that the voice on the voice mail and the voice of Ms. Bush appear identical.''
ADMISSION, DENIAL
Bush admitted that the phone number left on the pharmacy voice mail was a second line into her Tallahassee apartment. But she denied presenting herself as Scidmore.
Bush was handcuffed and searched. She appeared ``very shaky'' during an interview, according to the account by a Tallahassee police officer, but ``calmed considerably after being arrested.''
She told police that Walgreens had called her a week earlier to tell her that a prescription was ready to be picked up. She said she did not know who Dr. Scidmore was, and she told police that none of her friends was involved.
Bush was released from jail without having to post bail. Her arraignment in scheduled for Thursday.
Neither of the two doctors, Noel Scidmore and Wickstrom, of North Florida Radiation Oncology Associates, could be reached Tuesday.
The early-morning arrest happened just hours before Noelle Bush was scheduled to report for a new job as an administrative assistant at a Tallahassee software firm.
Tom Lynch, owner and president of the 100-employee Infinity Software Development, said the firm called Bush's apartment when she didn't show up. He realized why after learning of her arrest from a reporter.
Bush was to have worked in the human resources department, a job Lynch had interviewed her for after Bush submitted her résumé about a month ago. He said he won't decide whether to rescind the job offer until later.
``I thought she was very nice and very engaging,'' Lynch said. ``But I want to be respectful of her privacy. I don't know the facts. I want to hear from her.''
Noelle Bush has lived in Tallahassee since her father became governor in 1999.
She earned an associate's degree from Tallahassee Community College, after briefly attending community colleges in Miami and Indian River County. She attended two semesters at Florida State University until December.
THIRD-DEGREE FELONY
Prescription fraud is a third-degree felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, but such sentences are rarely imposed on first offenders. Most likely, a first offender convicted of prescription fraud would serve probation, or, ``at worst, county jail time'' of no more than a year, said Howard Finkelstein, Broward County's chief assistant public defender.
The arrest is unlikely to become a campaign issue because even his opponents believe it is a family matter. But one candidate for governor, House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, expressed hope that this situation might alter Bush's position on the cuts to rehabilitation programs.
``This is a private and personal matter that I hope will have a positive effect on the governor's position,'' Frankel said.
Herald staff writers Joni James, Carol Marbin Miller, Tere Figueras and Tina Cummings contributed to this report. |
