BEIJING, Nov. 21 -- Oscar winner Russell Crowe pleaded guilty Friday to reduced misdemeanor charges for hitting a hotel clerk with a telephone in June and was fined US$160 and told to stay out of trouble.

    Crowe, the star of such movies as "A Beautiful Mind" and "Gladiator," was given a conditional discharge by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Kathryn Freed and told he must avoid arrest for a year.

    The New Zealand native appeared in court for Friday's hearing with his wife and admitted to using a phone to assault a hotel employee but said nothing else.

    He could have faced up to one year in prison on the reduced charges. Crowe originally was charged with a felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon --- the phone --- and could have faced up to seven years in jail if convicted.

    The incident took place shortly after 4 a.m. June 6 when Crowe returned to the trendy SOHO hotel in New York after promoting the movie "Cinderella Man." He became irritated when hotel clerk Nestor Estrada was unable to put through a call to Crowe's wife in Australia. Upset, Crowe pulled the telephone out of the wall, went to the lobby, argued with Estrada and threw the phone at him.

    The New Yorker magazine reported Crowe was enraged because Estrada dismissed his frustration by saying "Whatever," a dismissive put-down.

    Crowe's lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, said if the actor was arrested again in the coming year, he would face the original felony charges. He said the outcome of Friday's hearing meant Crowe was free to travel and work in America.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)