Shia LaBeouf pleads guilty to Mardi Gras assault, gets two years probation
Actor Shia LaBeouf has pleaded guilty to three counts of battery stemming from an incident at Mardi Gras in New Orleans earlier this year.
LaBeouf was arrested on February 17th during the Mardi Gras celebrations in relation to the assault of two men. He was also accused of using homophobic slurs.
After entering his guilty plea, LaBeouf was sentenced to two years’ probation, rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, sensitivity training and anger management classes, per The Guardian.
Following the sentencing, LaBeouf’s attorney, Sarah Chervinsky, said in a statement, “The police and DA investigation proved exactly what Shia LaBeouf said from the beginning — that this was nothing more than a minor Mardi Gras bar tussle.”
Chervinsky continued, “There is no evidence it was about bias or prejudice, which is why the state only charged these low-level misdemeanors.”
The legal representative then claimed her client has taken “accountability for his part in what happened”, and is now “looking forward to focusing on family, work, and new creative projects”.
The New Orleans Police Department said following his arrest in February that “LaBeouf was reportedly causing a disturbance and becoming increasing[ly] aggressive at a Royal Street business.”
The police added, “Once removed from the building, the victim reported being struck by LaBeouf, who used his closed fists on the victim several times.”
Michael Kennedy, the attorney for Jeffrey Dammit, one of the three men that LaBeouf assaulted, said the sentencing is a reminder that everyone in New Orleans is “equal, and we don’t treat people differently based upon relative fame”.
Shortly after his arrest, LaBeouf addressed the incident in an interview with Andrew Callaghan on Channel 5 News, admitting, “I’ll be honest with you, big gay people are scary to me.”
He added, “When I’m like standing by myself and three gays are next to me, touching my leg, I get scared. I’m sorry. If that’s homophobic, then I’m that.”
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