Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter charged with prescription fraud

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter has been charged with prescription fraud, police said Tuesday. <br><br>Police did not immediately release details of the charge against Noelle Bush,

Tuesday, January 29th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter has been charged with prescription fraud, police said Tuesday.

Police did not immediately release details of the charge against Noelle Bush, 24. Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba, issued a statement saying they were ``deeply saddened'' by the incident involving their only daughter.

``This is a very serious problem,'' they said in the statement. ``Unfortunately, substance abuse is an issue confronting many families across our nation.''

Bush 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,'' Bush said.

Noelle Bush is the second of three children. She graduated from Tallahassee Community College in 2000 and attended Florida State University during the 2000-2001 academic year, but is not currently enrolled, the university registrar's office said.