Charges filed in Anna Nicole death

LOS ANGELES, March 12 (UPI) -- California authorities have charged three people with providing controlled substances to Anna Nicole Smith before her 2007 death, officials said Thursday.

Officials with the California attorney general's office and the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said two doctors -- Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor -- have been charged along with Smith's lawyer, Howard K. Stern, the Los Angeles Times reported late Thursday.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown issued a statement saying Eroshevich, Kapoor and Stern are charged with "repeatedly and excessively" furnishing drugs -- "often for no legitimate medical purpose" -- to Smith, an actress and model best known as a Playboy Playmate.

"There is ample evidence that Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor violated their ethical obligations as physicians, while Mr. Stern funneled highly addictive drugs to Ms. Smith," Brown said.

The statement said the suspects "furnished thousands of prescription pills to Ms. Smith, including opiates, benzodiazepines, and other controlled and non-controlled substances," the Times reported.

Eroshevich and Kapoor are accused of falsifying prescriptions while Stern is accused of "obtaining, delivering and administering these prescription drugs."

Smith died at 39 in Hollywood, Fla., in February 2007.