LAS VEGAS – A judge accepted a guilty plea Monday on behalf of rock 'n' roller Vince Neil and his lawyer paid a $1,000 fine to close a misdemeanor case stemming from a confrontation between the Motley Crue singer and his ex-girlfriend at a Las Vegas casino lounge.
Neil, 50, didn't appear in person while attorney Richard Schonfeld acknowledged his client pointed and cursed at Las Vegas entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs and two of her friends in a casino comedy club on March 24.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa dismissed a more serious misdemeanor charge of battery constituting domestic violence and declared the case closed. Neil, who lives in Las Vegas, could have faced up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted on both charges.
Schonfeld made the court record clear that Neil wasn't convicted of poking his finger into Jacobs' chest during the confrontation before a comedy show at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Jacobs, who has variously told reporters and police she is 39 and 45, declined comment Monday. She had told police she received a bruise from the finger-poke. Jacobs told police the altercation came after she and Neil ended a seven-month relationship.
Jacobs said after the plea agreement became public last week that she was glad Neil was taking responsibility for his actions.
Two other people named as victims in the confrontation didn't immediately respond to messages: Wayne Newton's sister-in-law and publicist Patricia McCrone, 41, and Las Vegas Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes, 45. They said last week they were glad the case was being resolved.
Neil is the front man for a four-member heavy metal band from the 1980s known as much for bad behavior, hard partying and famous girlfriends as for hard-driving hits like "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood."
He also owns tattoo shops and two bars in Las Vegas, including one at the Las Vegas Hilton where the Shimmer Cabaret comedy club confrontation took place.
The confrontation with Jacobs happened less than a month after Neil served 10 days in the Clark County jail for driving drunk in his black Lamborghini in June 2010 near the Las Vegas Strip. Neil also was fined $585 in that case and ordered to serve 15 days on house arrest as part of a plea deal that avoided trial.
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