Rose McGowan has reached a plea agreement following her arrest for drug possession in 2017.
The ‘Charmed’ actress – who was arrested for possession of cocaine two years ago – has agreed to plead no contest to a reduced drug charge in order to avoid putting her loved ones through the "emotional strain" of a trial and will pay a fine instead of facing a maximum of 10 years in jail.
Rose will officially enter her plea when she appears in court in Loudoun County, Virginia, later this month.
Her attorney, James W. Hundley said in a statement: "The Commonwealth has agreed to reduce the current felony charge to a misdemeanor of possession of a controlled substance.
"Ms. McGowan will enter a plea of no contest to the reduced charge when she appears in court on January 15, and the Commonwealth will recommend a sentence that requires Ms. McGowan to pay a fine.
"Ms. McGowan has accepted this agreement in order to spare her family, her friends and her supporters the emotional strain of a criminal trial.
"The agreement brings this ordeal to an end and allows her to focus all of her energy on what matters most to her – creating a better world."
The 45-year-old actress was initially charged with felony drug possession after cocaine was allegedly discovered in a wallet she left behind on a flight to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. on her way to the Women’s March in January 2017.
A warrant was issued by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police in February 2017, but it did not come to light until almost nine months later. Rose then turned herself into authorities and was placed under arrest.
She has previously claimed that disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein could have been involved in planting the drugs because of the "underhanded targeting" of her "by the fallen mogul", stemming from her decision to speak about about her allegations that she was raped by the filmmaker.
In court papers filed last February, her lawyer Jessica Carmichael wrote: "There is simply no point in time at which the evidence places Ms. McGowan and the cocaine together in the same place.
"It is now public knowledge that Weinstein employed underhanded tactics to ‘silence’ his victims."
She also cited reports that Weinstein hired private investigators to follow women who had made accusations against him.
Rose McGowan makes plea deal in drugs case
