Brooke Mueller reaches deal in Aspen cocaine case

ASPEN – Tabloid celebrity Brooke Mueller’s criminal woes that started Dec. 3 on a dance floor in Aspen ended Monday with a plea agreement in Pitkin County District Court, where she confessed to possessing less than 4 grams of cocaine.

The felony conviction comes in the form of a one-year deferred judgment, meaning that if the ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen follows the terms of her probation, the conviction will be erased from her record. As part of the deal, prosecutor Arnold Mordkin agreed to drop one felony count of attempted distribution of cocaine and a misdemeanor count of assault.

“What happens if you mess up again?” Judge Gail Nichols asked Mueller, 34, of Los Angeles.

“Ewww. I’m in big trouble,” she said.

Should Mueller – a former real estate agent who has also dabbled in acting and modeling – misstep while on the probation, she could be sentenced to six to 18 months in jail for her conviction on the cocaine-possession charge.

Mueller, who was accompanied by defense attorneys Richard Cummins and Yale Galanter, while her mother and father sat in the courtroom gallery, currently is undergoing rehabilitation for substance abuse at a Los Angeles facility.

As part of the plea agreement, she also will report to a probation officer in California. Terms of that arrangement will be finalized at her sentencing hearing schedule April 16 in district court; Mueller will not be required to attend if she is still in rehab.

Galanter applauded Mueller for her efforts to stay clean. Likewise, Nichols noted that Mueller, who has a history of substance-abuse problems, appears to be on the mend.

“I encourage you to keep up the good work,” the judge said. “You look healthy and that’s a good sign.”

“Thank you,” replied Mueller.

After the hearing, Mordkin said Mueller’s plea agreement is consistent with other deals hatched in Pitkin County District Court.

“Mrs. Mueller was treated exactly the same way anybody else in the same position would have been and has been treated,” he said.

Mueller has twin boys with Sheen, who allegedly threatened her with a knife at the West End Aspen home in which she was staying for the Christmas holidays in 2009.

Mordkin prosecuted Sheen for the assault on his then-wife. The former star of the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in an agreement with the District Attorney’s Office in exchange for the dismissal of felony charges of menacing and criminal mischief.

The incident provided the culprit for Mueller and Sheen to later divorce.

On Monday, the Aspen Police Department released reports from the Dec. 3 incident involving Mueller. Previously Mordkin had kept the reports sealed from the public because he said the case remained under investigation.

The reports say that approximately 11:30 that night, police received a call that there had been a fight on the dance floor at Belly Up nightclub in downtown Aspen, where Sublime tribute band 40 Oz. to Freedom was performing.

Officers Dave Rosselot and Jeff Fain spoke with a woman named Llana Hora Castillo Pacheco Little, 25, who “was crying and appeared very upset,” Rosselot’s report says.

The woman said she bumped into Mueller on the dance floor, and Mueller proceeded to “punch her in the back.” Police then interviewed Mueller, who was still at the club, and she said that “some girl” had “elbowed” her several times.

According to the police report, Mueller also expressed frustration that she “was being detained” and said she was going to call Mordkin. Meanwhile, police again interviewed the alleged victim who said she wanted Mueller “to go to jail.” Officers Fain and Rosselot then reviewed video surveillance that showed Mueller engage in a “punching motion” toward Pacheco Little, Rosselot’s report says.

Fain’s report also stated: “I could definitely see where (Mueller’s) arm had extended out toward Pacheco Little’s back and did appear to strike her.”

At that point, officers decided to arrest Mueller, but she and a friend had already left Belly Up. Fain and another officer, Sgt. Dan Davis, then went looking for Mueller and received confirmation from a doorman at the Escobar nightclub that Mueller was there. Police spotted Mueller inside the bar and brought her outside in the Hyman Avenue mall, where Fain told her she was under arrest for assault.

“(Mueller) started screaming that she would be calling her lawyer and would be suing the department,” Fain wrote. “(Mueller) started to become very violent and pacing back and forth in the stairwell. (Mueller) screamed at me, ‘You think you have power, you will see.’ (Mueller) then struck me in the chest two times with her finger very hard.”

At one point, Mueller said, “Get your f—ing arms off me! Who do you think you are?”, according to Davis’ report, which also said she threatened to sue him if he did not let her go.

Later, Mueller continued to scream at the officers, Fain wrote. Fain then handcuffed Mueller and walked her down Hyman Avenue, where at one point she pulled her wallet out of her pants and threw it toward a man to whom she referred as “Rich,” the report says.

Rich, the report says, had been following the two officers and Mueller, “and stood on the sidewalk in a strange manner with his foot awkwardly over the wallet.” Davis, however, retrieved the wallet after telling Rich to remove his foot. Davis then opened the wallet and found a plastic bag containing a white, powdery substance, which he believed was cocaine. The officer’s finding prompted Mueller to say: “If you f—ing do this to me … I need a lawyer, now!” Davis’ report says.

Later at the jail, where Mueller was booked, Fain also told her she faced possession of cocaine charges. Fain told Mueller that she was in possession of more than 4 grams, to which she allegedly replied: “I bought an eight-ball, which is 3.5 grams. How is it that it weighs 4 grams?” She added: “I bought that coke for all my friends, I was trying to impress them. … I didn’t even do any this evening, I was just holding it for everyone else.”

Later, police interviewed employees of Belly Up, who said Mueller has been known to get “drunk and wild” at the club, cause problems, and often visit the bathroom stall with other females.

Regarding Rich, police later learned where he worked and tried to contact him, but “his whereabouts are unknown at this time,” according to a section of the police report.

rcarroll@aspentimes.com