Actor Tom Sizemore sentenced

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from CNN.com

 

 

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Actor Tom Sizemore Monday was sentenced to six months in jail for beating up his former girlfriend, the one-time "Hollywood Madam," Heidi Fleiss.

 

Sizemore, best known for his parts in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down," was convicted in August of domestic violence, making criminal threats and harassing Fleiss during their stormy one-year relationship.

 

The 41-year-old actor, who has admitted an addiction to crystal methamphetamine, must first complete a residential drug rehab program that he started last month before beginning his jail term in January. He was also given three years probation and ordered to undergo anger management counseling.

 

Sizemore was convicted of hitting Fleiss in the jaw during a brawl at a posh Beverly Hills hotel. Fleiss, who served time in jail for running a 1990s call-girl ring for Hollywood's rich and famous, also testified at trial that Sizemore stubbed a cigarette out on her and once knocked her to the ground outside his home. The actor later terrified her by making more than than 70 obscenity-laced phone calls.

 

Sizemore, who denied the charges but did not testify at trial, said in a letter to the judge released Monday that he was "very chastened by the trial and my convictions."

 

"In recent months, I have permitted my personal demons to take over my life. I do not want to make excuses but I am convinced that if I had not been under the influence of drugs, I would have controlled my behavior," Sizemore wrote.

 

Fleiss said in a statement that she "loved that man and I was very good to him and what he did to me was wrong. I want to pretend I never met him."

 

She had testified that she decided to go to the police after Sizemore threatened to kill her younger brother.