Chris Brown pleads guilty to assault

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Brown pleaded guilty Monday toassaulting Rihanna and the two were ordered to stay away from each other, in a deal that keeps the singer out of prison but requires him to clean up graffiti or roadside trash.

Brown’s plea to a felony charge will subject him to substantial scrutiny by probation officials, and the judge’s order rules out anyshort-term prospects for reconciliation with his pop diva girlfriend as well.

The guilty plea came before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to start. The hearing had been billed for weeks as a public face-off between the pair, with Rihanna set to testify against her one-time boyfriend.

Instead, Brown averted the potentially damaging meeting by entering a plea that will subject him to probation for the next five years as well as force him to perform six months of community service.

Mark Geragos, Brown’s lawyer, said the plea represented the singer taking responsibility for his actions — which included beating, choking and biting Rihanna during a fight early Feb. 8, according to police.

After Brown left the courtroom, Rihanna entered and was addressed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, who explained to the Barbados-born singer that she had issued a stay-away order.

Rihanna had not been seeking such an order, but the judge imposed one anyway. The order requires that Brown and Rihanna stay at least 50 yards (45 meters) from each other, except at industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards (nine meters).

The judge also told Rihanna it is not a one-way order — and that she, too, should not get any closer to Brown than the order allows.

“This is a kid who’s never been in trouble before,” Geragos said after the hearing. “He embraces this as a chance to get the message out that domestic violence will not be tolerated. He wants to get his life back on track.”

Brown will be formally sentenced on Aug. 5.

Schnegg accepted Brown’s plea, but expressed some concerns because Brown is not a California resident. She said Brown likely will be allowed to do his service in his home state of Virginia, but she did not want him to spend his time at churches or community centers.

Instead, Schnegg ordered Brown to get his hands dirty by doing work equivalent to what he would do in California — clean upgrafitti or roadside trash.