TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 24-year-old daughter Noelle has been charged with prescription fraud, Tallahassee police said Tuesday.
Bush was arrested Monday night for obtaining a controlled substance by fraudulent means. She was booked and released on her own recognizance from the Leon County jail, according to the police report.
The governor and his wife, Columba, issued a statement saying they were "deeply saddened" by the incident involving their only daughter, the second of three children.
"This is a very serious problem," they said in the statement. "Unfortunately, substance abuse is an issue confronting many families across our nation."
According to the police report, Noelle Bush approached a Walgreen's drive-through pharmacy in her white Volkswagen and waited while a woman claiming to be a doctor called in a prescription for Bush for Xanax, a sedative similar to Valium used for treating anxiety and sleep disorders.
The pharmacist called back the doctor's office and was told the prescribing physician, Dr. Noel Skidmore, no longer practiced in Tallahassee. The pharmacist was told to treat the phoned-in prescription as fraudulent, after which she called police.
Bush said she did not know the doctor, but admitted that the phony doctor's phone number left on the pharmacy's answering machine was a second line in her home, according to the report.
Noelle Bush graduated from Tallahassee Community College in 2000 and attended Florida State University during the 2000-2001 academic year, but she is not currently enrolled, the university registrar's office said.
Her mother has worked on behalf of Informed Families of Florida, a nonprofit group involved in educating families about drug abuse.
Florida's first family asked the public and the media to "respect our family's privacy during this difficult time so that we can help our daughter."
"We will have no further comment on this issue," they said.
Jeb and Columba Bush had said previously that one of their three children struggled with a drug problem following Bush's unsuccessful first run for governor in 1994. They did not say whether it was Noelle or one of her brothers.
President Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, have both been charged with underage drinking. Last May, Jenna was charged with using someone else's identification to try to buy a margarita at an Austin, Texas, restaurant, and Barbara was charged with underage drinking.
The charges were dropped after the twins performed community service, attended alcohol awareness classes and paid $100 fines. A separate underage drinking charge in April against Jenna Bush went on her record as a conviction because of the restaurant violation. A judge fined her $500 and suspended her license.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.