ASPEN, Colo. — Charlie Sheen pleaded guilty today to assault in a Christmas Day argument with his wife in exchange for the withdrawal of more serious charges.
Sheen, star of “Two and a Half Men” on CBS, was sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation center, 30 days of probation and 36 hours of anger management. He has 30 days to report to the Promises Treatment Center in California.
Colorado prosecutors dropped a felony menacing charge and a criminal mischief charge in exchange for Sheen’s plea on a count of misdemeanor assault. The charges stem from a Christmas Day 2009 dispute with Brooke Mueller Sheen.
Sheen was scheduled to plead guilty at a hearing in June, but that hit a snag over terms of a proposed work release program. His attorney, Yale Galanter, had said that a plea agreement called for Sheen to serve 30 days in jail.
Sheen, dressed in a dark suit, shirt and purple tie, entered the Pitkin County Courthouse after waving and blowing kisses to the crowd outside, and flashing a peace sign.
“I’m very grateful to the court and to the people of Pitkin County,” he said in a statement after the hearing. “I look forward to complying with the court’s decision, getting on with my life and putting this behind me.”
Brooke Mueller Sheen had told police that the actor threatened to kill her after she told him she wanted a divorce. She said he straddled her on a bed with one hand on her neck and the other hand holding a knife.
Charlie Sheen told police he and his wife had argued but denied threatening her. He told officers they slapped each other on the arms and that he had snapped two pairs of her eyeglasses in front of her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Sheen told police he was upset by the divorce threat. He previously went through a bitter divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife Denise Richards.
Within a week of Sheen’s arrest, he and Mueller Sheen both said they wanted to reconcile. In February, they hugged in an Aspen courtroom after a judge modified a restraining order that kept them from contacting each other.
Since the incident, both have completed alcohol rehab programs, and Galanter has said they’ve been sober for months.
Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who represents a former Aspen police officer who responded to the Christmas Day call, said after the hearing that she was appalled by the outcome.
“Spousal assault and battery is a very serious crime and needs to have serious consequences,” Allred said.
It was not the first run-in with the law for Sheen, the star of films such as “Platoon,” “Wall Street” and “Hot Shots!” He agreed last month to return to “Two and a Half Men” for two more seasons.
In December 1996, he was charged with attacking a girlfriend at his Southern California home. He later pleaded no contest and was placed on two years of probation.
In 1998, his father, actor Martin Sheen, turned him in for violating his parole after a cocaine overdose sent him to the hospital. He was ordered to undergo a rehabilitation program.
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