Ex-San Diego mayor pleads guilty
SAN DIEGO — Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, driven from office by sexual harassment allegations, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony for putting a woman in a headlock and to less serious charges for kissing another woman against her will and grabbing the buttocks of a third.
The pleas came less than two months after the 10-term congressman defiantly said he was the victim of a lynch mob and insisted he would be vindicated of the sexual harassment claims by at least 17 women if due process was allowed to run its course.
His accusers included a retired navy admiral, a university dean and great grandmother.
Filner said little on Tuesday beyond “guilty” when a judge read the charges against him — one count of felony false imprisonment and two counts of misdemeanor battery.
Under a plea deal, the state attorney general’s office will recommend Filner be sentenced to three months of home confinement and three years of probation. The maximum possible sentence for a false imprisonment count is three years in prison and one year for each count of battery.
Filner restrained a woman against her will at a fundraiser on March 6, applying additional force after she resisted, according to the plea agreement. Filner put her in a headlock, his attorney, Jerry Coughlan, told reporters.
He also kissed a woman without permission at a “Meet the Mayor” event on April 6 and groped another victim at a May 25 rally to clean up Fiesta Island in Mission Bay. None of the victims were identified.
