Justin Bieber’s rep says the singer is glad to move on after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor vandalism charge in his infamous egging case.
Justin Bieber has released a brief statement following news of his plea deal in a vandalism case arising from his alleged egging of his ex-neighbor’s California house in January.
The singer’s rep told E! News :
“Justin is glad to get this matter resolved and behind him. He will continue to move forward focusing on his career and his music.”
The 20-year-old’s lawyer pleaded no contest for the singer at the Wednesday arraignment for a misdemeanor vandalism charge for allegedly egging his ex-neighbor’s residence in Calabasas, California on January 9 and causing over $20,000 damages.
Although the terms of the plea deal are tough the singer avoids jail time and a felon label, which may work for rappers but would have been a serious blow to Bieber.
Bieber has been given a probation term of two years and ordered to perform five days of community service, which will likely trash or graffiti removal.
The “Baby” singer is also required to attend 12 weeks of anger management classes and ordered to stay away from the neighbor and his family for two years.
In addition, the Canadian must pay $80,900 as restitution damages to the neighbor.
At the arraignment at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys, the presiding judge told the court the damages exceeded $20,000, reportedly saying: “The house is a dream house.”
Bieber was not required to be at court and was not.
Post-hearing, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office put out a statement announcing the misdemeanor vandalism charge.
Deputy D.A. Alan Yochelson said that he was satisfied with the misdemeanor charge and called the egging an “extremely immature and a silly act,” the Associated Press reports.
A hearing to check on Bieber’s progress toward completing his sentence was scheduled for August 12.
Bieber was accused by egging his estranged, ex-neighbor’s home in the gated The Oaks community in Calabasas of egging his residence on January 9.
The neighbor claimed he and his then 13-year-old daughter were “attacked” by “at least” 20 eggs E! News reports. Part of the egg-throwing attack was filmed in their home-video.
Five days after the egging, Sheriffs executed a felony search warrant authorized police raid of the Bieber’s former Calabasas pad.
The raid saw 11 patrol cars, helicopters, investigators kitted out with guns and a battering ram used turn up at the singer’s then home. During the raid, Bieber’s surveillance video hard drives and iPhone were seized.
One of the singer’s pals, Lil Za – real name, Xavier Smith – was also arrested on suspicion of drug possession . These were later revealed to be MDMA and Oxycontin. The 20-year-old rapper was also hit with a vandalism charge for allegedly ripping a phone off the wall before he was to be released on bail.
Smith has since been sentenced to three years probation on the drug charge and ordered to attend an outpatient drug treatment program and work 20 days on a highway clean-up crew.
( Photo: The singer posted this Instagram after a Beverly Hills shopping trip on Tuesday .)
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department recommended a felony vandalism charge to the D.A.’s office when it handed over its findings in February, and likely disappointed with the misdemeanor vandalism result.
“We did a search warrant and put a lot of work into it. Of course it’s up to them… I want a felony filing,” Sheriff Lt. Dave Thompson previously told E! News “The kid needs to realize he can’t do this.”
Of the months of deliberation before Bieber’s charging, criminal attorney Troy Slaten (who is not connected with the egging case) told the same outlet:
“The reason is because this case is very political. This is very high profile.”
“This probably went all the way to the elected D.A. [Jackie Lacey]’s desk. This sort of thing affects the entire office.”
“It will be heavily scrutinized and they want to make sure that it doesn’t appear that they are treating him any different than anyone that is exactly similarly situated.”
Slaten’s opinion of Bieber’s charge? “I would consider a misdemeanor charge to be very, very good, because the filing deputy who took the case from the Sheriff’s Department went on the record saying they wanted a felony charge. It’s clear that in the eyes of the law and the DA that Justin is chipping away at his nine lives.”
Bieber is also dealing with two other criminal cases and civil lawsuits.
Following an arrest on suspicion of DUI in January, then later charges of a resisting arrest without violence and driving with an expired license, Justin is reportedly set to plead guilty to reckless driving in a Miami court on July 16 as part of a plea deal .
A preliminary toxicology report showed that the star tested positive for marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax after his arrest. No other drugs were found in his system.
Justin surrendered to police in Toronto, Canada on January 29 to be charged with assault for allegedly hitting a limousine driver last December. His Los Angeles attorney, Howard Weiztman, previously said Bieber is “innocent” in that case.
Bieber gained stardom with his debut album at age 15 and his career has been guided by two music industry heavyweights — his mentor/singer Usher and manager Scooter Braun. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for his 2010 full-length album debut “My World 2.0,” but has seen his popularity dip since 2013.
Meanwhile, the embattled star was recently spotted in Beverly Hills taking his rumoured new girlfriend Yovanna Ventura to a lunch date at a Los Angeles restaurant on Tuesday.