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Charlie Sheen to serve Aspen 'jail' term in Malibu rehab

By Alan Duke, CNN
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Outrage over Sheen's plea deal
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: An officer who investigated Sheen case said she was "appalled" by sentence
  • NEW: Sheen will get credit for the days he's already spent in rehab
  • Lawyer: "We are very pleased with the plea"
  • Sheen will be on the set when "Two and a Half Men" production resumes Tuesday

(CNN) -- Charlie Sheen's plea deal to resolve felony domestic violence charges in Aspen, Colorado, will allow the actor to serve his jail term at a Malibu, California, rehab center, his lawyer said Monday.

"Guilty as charged, your honor," Sheen answered when the judge asked for his plea.

But "as charged" did not include a felony count. It was dropped in exchange for Sheen's guilty plea to a misdemeanor third-degree assault count, Pitkin County, Colorado, court spokesman Rob McCallum said.

The case stemmed from Sheen's arrest on Christmas Day after his wife, Brooke Mueller, told Aspen police he threatened her with a knife at their holiday home.

"We're very pleased with the plea," defense lawyer Yale Galanter said after Monday's sentencing.

Sheen, in a statement issued through his publicist, said he was "very grateful."

Video: Sheen's courtroom showdown
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"I look forward to complying with the court's decision, getting on with my life and putting this behind me," he said.

The 30-day jail sentence could be completed quickly since the judge will count time the actor spent at the same rehab facility -- Promises of Malibu -- earlier this year, McCallum said.

Sheen, 44, also will serve three months of unsupervised probation and attend 36 hours of domestic violence evaluation and treatment.

The sentence means that Sheen can be on the set in Burbank, California, when production on the new season of his hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" resumes Tuesday morning, Galanter said.

Mark Burg, who is Sheen's manager, said show production will not be affected. "Thankfully, the Pitkin County court is letting him keep three (hundred) or four hundred people employed each week."

"We employ a lot of people," Burg said. "And Charlie, without him, there is no show."

A former Aspen police officer who interviewed Mueller and took photos after the incident said she was "appalled" that Sheen got the "lightest possible sentence imaginable."

"I wish that the judge could have seen what Mrs. Sheen looked like on that Christmas Day," said Valerie McFarlane, who lost her job with the Aspen Police Department earlier this year in an unrelated matter.

Galanter, who also has represented Sheen's wife, said she is "totally on board" with the plea agreement.

"Brooke wanted the charges dismissed completely and still does," Galanter said.

Sheen's legal trouble began last Christmas morning when his wife called police.

"My husband had me with a knife and I'm scared for my life and he threatened me," Mueller, 32, told a police dispatcher.

A police report quoted Mueller saying Sheen held a switchblade knife to her throat as he held her down on her bed.

"You better be in fear," the report alleged Sheen told his wife. "If you tell anybody, I'll kill you. Your mother's money means nothing. I have ex-police I can hire who know how to get the job done and they won't leave any trace."

An Aspen police officer wrote that he saw "red marks on the upper part of the front of her neck."

Sheen denied attacking his wife, but admitted breaking her glasses, the police report said.

The argument began when Mueller became jealous that Sheen "shared a song for his daughter, whom he fathered with another woman," the officer quoted Sheen as saying.

Sheen told police he became angry when his wife threatened to divorce him and fight for custody of their twin sons, the report said.

Aspen police charged Sheen with felony second-degree assault, felony menacing and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. He was booked under his birth name, Carlos Irwin Estevez.

Both Sheen and Mueller, 32, entered substance abuse rehabilitation several weeks after the incident.

The couple was married in 2008. Their twin sons, Max and Bob, celebrated their first birthday in March.

The son of actor Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen recently signed a new contract to continue with "Two and a Half Men."