Brooke Mueller Plea Deal: No Jail Time in Cocaine Case
The Brooke Mueller plea deal is pretty sweet.
Charlie Sheen's ex was arrested in December and charged with felony possession of cocaine under 4 grams, felony possession with intent to distribute, and misdemeanor assault. In exchange for a guilty plea, Aspen, Colo., prosecutors have agreed to drop the last two charges, according to gossip website TMZ.
Additionally, the mother of twins will serve no time. Instead, she will spend the next 12 months on probation, The Inquisitr reports.
The Brooke Mueller plea deal, which has been approved by the judge, gets even better. Though Mueller has entered a guilty plea, TMZ reports that it has been entered as a deferred judgment. A deferred judgment means that the charges may ultimately be dismissed.
If Mueller successfully completes probation without any further mishaps, the charges will disappear and it will be as if the whole ordeal never happened. But if she violates the terms of probation, the guilty plea will be entered and she will find herself with a criminal record. She could also be sent to jail.
Prosecutors insist that they are treating Mueller the same as anyone else, according to The Inquisitr. They're not lying.
Deferred judgments tend to be reserved for those who have little to no criminal history, as well as those who have taken steps to rectify their actions. The severity of the crime is also an important factor.
Perhaps surprisingly, Mueller has never before been convicted of possessing drugs. She also entered an intensive, three-month inpatient rehab program immediately after her arrest.
When Mueller completed the program, she entered an outpatient program near her home. If a non-celebrity defendant did the same, she'd probably get the Brooke Mueller plea deal, too.
Related Resources:
- Brooke Mueller Strikes a Plea Deal Over Drug Charges, Avoids Jail Time (E! Online)
- Deferred Adjudication / Pretrial Diversion (FindLaw)
- Brooke Mueller's Rehab Prompts Charlie Sheen to Custody Battle (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)