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Robert Galbraith / Reuters file
San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi gestures as he walks into Superior Court for the start of his trial on domestic abuse charges in San Francisco, Calif. on Feb. 24.
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco sheriff Ross Mirkarimi pleaded guilty Monday to false imprisonment in a domestic violence case involving his wife, a Venezuelan actress.
Under the plea agreement, Mirkarimi was fined $590 and sentenced to three years of probation and a year of anger management. He will also be required to take parenting classes, according to NBC Bay Area, citing prosecutors. In exchange, San Francisco prosecutors dropped a domestic violence charge and two other misdemeanor counts they filed in January against Mirkarimi, 50, in connection with the New Year's Eve incident in the couple's Western Addition home.
Sentencing is scheduled for Monday, the report said.
He previously pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness after being accused of grabbing his wife in front of their toddler son New Year's Eve.
The plea was entered in a San Francisco courtroom.
In a brief appearance before the judge, Mirkarimi apologized to his family, the Sheriff's Department, the people of San Francisco. He also apologized to Ivory Madison, a neighbor who made a videotape of his wife, Eliana Lopez, showing bruising on her biceps and tearfully describing her husband grabbing her in front of their son.
New sheriff mired in domestic abuse drama
Madison contacted the police on Jan. 4 and Mirkarimi was arrested on Jan. 13, just days after he was sworn in as sheriff.
The the charges surfaced, Lopez denied she was the victim of domestic abuse and refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
Mirkarimi made the plea deal after a three-judge panel ruled that the videotape made by Madison would be allowed as evidence in the sheriff's trial.
The sheriff told reporters at the courthouse that he would remain as sheriff saying the plea "allows us to move forward," according to the Bay Citizen news site.
Asked afterward if justice had been served, prosecutor Elizabeth Aguilar Tarchi said, "Yes."
Mirkarimi is a well-known progressive political figure in San Francisco. Prior to his election to sheriff, he served seven years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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And this equates to "national" news how???
It must be a slow news day for MSNBC... as it usually is.
Another San Francisco nutcase.
Just another Democrat doing what they do best.
Yeah, it's a good thing that Republicans never ever do anything like that.
that's it? $590 + zero jail time for all of that? It helps, when you're part of the hierachy!
he grabbed her arm, left a bruise, many many married couples have heated arguments, Its not liked he punched her or has a history of abuse, the neighbor did the right thing, just maybe got overblown because he holds office???
A man does not lay his hands on a woman, were you not taught that Kevin? So if you get in a heated argument with your wife, girlfriend... it's not that big of a deal because couples do it everyday?. It's only abuse if he punches her or something OTHER then just grabbing her?. I hate hearing guys try to justify something like this, it is not right to grab a damn woman because you are mad in the first place, let alone grabbing her hard enough to bruise her, that is abuse. What a man, and thats JUST what they think they are...Men. More like sorry excuses for one.
And I don't think it has been overblown at all whatsoever, Police officers, Judges, Especially Sheriffs, and anybody in these positions should be held to HIGHER expectations, I mean it's their jobs to protect the public and inforce these laws, abuse is against the law. There is no, well it's ok if it's this but it is wrong if he does this.. Abuse is abuse.
A man who abuses a woman for the first time is NO better in ANY way than a man who has done it repeatedly. I hope you aren't married Kevin because I feel bad for that woman who upsets you. But then again you would probably just tell her it's not that big of a deal and you are sorry, which I'm sure this fine sheriff told his wife too.
Unless they are fighters for a living, or playing contact sports, no one has a right to put their hands on another. He left bruises....it is scary how people turn the other cheek to this type of behavior.
TexasLaw is right, he isn't a man. He is a boy. That type of behavior is something one expects from little children who are learning how to control themselves.
The fact that he grabbed her hard enough to leave bruises is abuse. This wasn't an accident. He put his hands on her intentionally and with force. People get arrested for less, so it was fitting that he be charged. Even though, he got a slap on the wrist.
He's still Sheriff? I guess that's OK, since it took so long to convict our own Sheriff in Orange County!
A convected sheriff, well it's California