Actor Charlie Sheen has pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife during a Christmas Day argument in exchange for a plea deal with no jail time and more serious charges dropped.
The star of the comedy show Two and a Half Men was sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation centre, 30 days of probation and 36 hours of anger management. He has 30 days to make arrangements for his sentence at Promises Treatment Centre in California, though whether he will have to report there remains in question.
Sheen's attorney, Yale Galanter, said the actor already has spent 93 days at Promises this year and that the centre could choose to credit that time toward his sentence.
Sheen's plea agreement called for Colorado prosecutors to drop a felony menacing charge and a criminal mischief charge in exchange for pleading guilty to a count of misdemeanour assault. The charges stem from a Christmas Day 2009 dispute with Brooke Mueller Sheen.
District attorney Martin Beeson said Sheen has no criminal record in Colorado and allowing him to avoid jail time was not unusual. He also said that the plea carries several long-term consequences that include Sheen not being able to possess firearms.
District Judicial Judge James Boyd gave Sheen credit for time spent in anger management classes.
Richard Cummins, another Sheen attorney, said Sheen already completed 36 hours of anger management classes in California, though it would be up to the 9th Judicial District probation department to determine whether those can be applied to his Colorado case.
Sheen, dressed in a dark suit, shirt and purple tie, entered the county courthouse after waving and blowing kisses to the crowd outside, and flashing a peace sign. Inside the courtroom, he smiled and thanked a supporter who said, "We love you."
"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."
In handing down the sentence, Mr Boyd said that allowing Sheen to focus on what happened and why it happened "is the best opportunity for the community to be safe."
Brooke Mueller Sheen had told police that the actor threatened to kill her and brandished a knife after she told him she wanted a divorce. Charlie Sheen said they had argued but denied threatening her.
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 Ms 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 programmes, and Mr Galanter has said they've been sober for months.
It was not the first run-in with the law for Sheen, the star of films such as Platoon, Wall Street and Hot Shots!
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. Allred also represented the victim in that case.
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 programme.
AP