'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' actor pleads guilty after allegedly choking girlfriend

Nicholas Brendon, best known for his part as Xander in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and for a role on "Criminal Minds," entered a guilty plea Friday after allegedly choking his girlfriend during a fight a few months ago, the Times Union reports.

Brendon pleaded guilty to criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, in the incident that happened Sept. 30. The actor allegedly grabbed his girlfriend by the throat, took her car keys and threw her cell phone during a fight at a Saratoga Springs, N.Y., hotel.

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The Saratoga Springs District Attorney told the Union Times that, as part of the "conditional charge" issued by the judge, 44-year-old Brendon will not serve jail time if he completes drug and alcohol counseling and stays out of trouble for a year.

Brendon was intoxicated during the incident, police said, and was charged with felony third-degree robbery, two counts of criminal mischief and one count of obstruction of breathing.

See photos of Nicholas Brendon through the years:

The actor has battled substance abuse in the past. He has been arrested four times this year, and announced last month that he planned on entering a treatment facility.

Brendon posted a photo of himself at a Starbucks on his Facebook Saturday, writing that he was going back to treatment. "It's another beautiful day on this round floating rock we call planet earth," he wrote. "I'm heading back to treatment today to continue #kickingdepressionintheballsack After successfully taking care of some life business."

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