Former Miss Russia Pleads Not Guilty To New York Drug Charges
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Former Miss Russia Anna Malova has pleaded not guilty in New York City to charges of illegally obtaining prescription painkillers and other drugs.
Malova is facing 44 charges of petty larceny, forgery and criminal possession of controlled substances.
Prosecutors say she allegedly took prescription pads from the offices of two psychiatrists and forged prescriptions to obtain the painkiller Vicodin and the anti-anxiety drug clonazepam.
AP reports that she is now accused of filling or trying to fill bogus prescriptions at pharmacies 14 times over the last 18 months.
The former beauty queen was arrested on similar charges in New York in early 2010.
Her lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, said Malova has been taking steps to deal with what he called a “very serious substance-abuse problem.”
Malova won the Miss Russia contest in 1998, and finished in the top 10 of the Miss Universe pageant later in 1998.
