Charlie Sheen avoids jail for assaulting wife

Actor Charlie Sheen pleaded guilty Monday 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 Two and a Half Men star 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 Center 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.

Ninth District Judicial Judge James Boyd gave Sheen credit for time spent in anger management classes.

In handing down the sentence, Boyd said that allowing Sheen to focus on what happened and why it happened "is the best opportunity for the community to be safe."

Sheen 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."

Sheen's wife 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.

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.