No Charges Filed In Overdose Death Of Prince

(CNN) -- Carver County Attorney Mark Metz announced Thursday that no one will be charged in connection to Prince's death in April 2016.

Prince, whose full name was Prince Rogers Nelson, was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, his home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The cause of death was an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl, according to the Midwest Medical Examiner's office. He was 57.

Federal prosecutors and the Drug Enforcement Administration had opened an investigation into how Prince obtained the prescription medication, the agencies have said.

None of the medications found in Prince's home were prescribed to him, according to court documents unsealed in April 2017. Some bottles of opioid painkillers in his home were prescribed to his former drummer and longtime friend Kirk Johnson, and other medications were found in vitamin bottles and envelopes, search warrants showed.

The Minnesota physician who saw Prince twice in the weeks before the artist's death agreed to pay $30,000 to the US to settle allegations that he prescribed drugs to someone else knowing that Prince would take them.

Dr. Michael Schulenberg did not admit liability as part of the agreement, which settled what law enforcement officials contended was a civil violation of the Controlled Substances Act.

"Doctors are trusted medical professionals and, in the midst of our opioid crisis, they must be part of the solution," said US Attorney Greg Brooker. "As licensed professionals, doctors are held to a high level of accountability in their prescribing practices, especially when it comes to highly addictive painkillers."

Amy S. Conners, Schulenberg's attorney, said in a statement the settlement was made "in order to avoid the expense, delay, and unknown outcome of litigation." The doctor made no admission of facts and denied any liability, she said.

Conners said that Schulenberg affirmed he did not prescribe opiates to any patient with the intention that they be given to Prince.

"After he learned of Prince's addiction, he immediately worked to refer Prince to a treatment facility and to transfer care to a chemical dependency specialist," Conners said. "Dr. Schulenberg has previously disclosed all information regarding his care and treatment of Prince to his employers, law enforcement, and regulatory authorities in the course of his complete cooperation with all related investigations."

Counterfeit pills

"The evidence suggests Prince thought he was taking Vicodin, not fentanyl," Metz stated Thursday.

"A significant number of the pills found by law enforcement at Paisley Park were not in the original container provided by a pharmacy. For example, law enforcement located numerous white capsule pills with 'Watson 853' imprinted on pills inside Paisley Park. Like Vicodin, Watson 853 is a legitimate preparation," Metz stated.

Metz said 15 prescription pills that had the Watson 853 imprint were located inside his dressing room. Another 64.5 of the pills were found in another bottle and 20.5 pills were located inside an Aleve bottle on the nightstand by his bed.

Prosecutors say the counterfeit pills were exact imitations of real Vicodin.

The famed recording artist and larger-than-life figure had a complicated history with opioids, the addicting painkillers. The day before he died, his team had called an opioid addiction specialist in California seeking urgent help for him, an attorney working for the specialist and his son said in 2016.

'I'm outraged'

Charles "Chazz" Smith, Prince's cousin and drummer, said he was "outraged" by the decision not to file any charges.

"I know the DEA and the investigators and all of the law enforcement people went through Prince's house with a fine-tooth comb and conducted this investigation to the best of their abilities. My hats off to them," he said.

"I'm not outraged at them. I'm outraged by people in Prince's inner circle not speaking up about what really happened. Those people who were around him when he died, they know what went on."

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)