Actor Charlie Sheen Pleads Guilty to Assault

ASPEN, KOMPAS.com - Actor Charlie Sheen pleaded guilty on Monday to assaulting his wife last Christmas and was sentenced to 30 days in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation in California. Under a plea deal reached with prosecutors in Aspen, Sheen also agreed to three months probation in which he cannot consume any drugs, other than prescription medication, and cannot drink an excessive amount of alcohol.

He also was ordered to attend 36 hours of anger management classes. Pitkin County District Judge James C. Boyd sentenced Sheen to a 30-day jail term, but suspended it provided Sheen successfully completes his probation and the drug and alcohol rehab program in California.

Sheen, 44, was quiet through much of the court proceeding. When asked how he pleaded, Sheen said “guilty as charged, your honor.”

In a statement issued following the court proceeding, Sheen said he was “very grateful” to the court. “I look forward to complying with the court’s decision, getting on with my life and putting this behind me,” he said.

The star of the CBS network’s sitcom “Two And a Half Men" is to serve his 30-day stint in rehab time at a Promises treatment center in California, one of which is located in the seaside enclave of Malibu. The deal allows Sheen to continue his work on “Two and Half Men.”

Sheen was arrested on Christmas Day after Brooke Mueller, his third wife, told police he had pulled a knife on her and threatened to have her killed. The actor was charged with felony menacing, misdemeanor third degree assault and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

In exchange for his guilty plea on the misdemeanor third degree assault, prosecutors dropped the charges of menacing and of criminal mischief. Sheen had faced up to three years behind bars if he had been convicted on all charges.

The actor’s legal troubles have had little effect on his popularity. Audiences for “Two and a Half Men” have remained high and this  year Sheen negotiated a deal with CBS that took his pay to a reported $1.8 million per episode.