Emile Hirsch Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Film Executive Daniele Bernfeld

Emile Hirsch has pleaded guilty to assaulting film executive Daniele Bernfeld during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January.

He was given a 15-day jail term and 50 hours of community service as part of a plea deal agreed with the prosecutors. He was also fined $4,750.

Daniele Bernfeld, an executive for Insurge Pictures, told police Emile Hirsch grabbed her in a chokehold at a nightclub in Park City.

The plea deal agreed on August 17 means Emile Hirsch managed to avoid the maximum jail sentence of five years. He was told the charges would be dropped from his record if he completed his sentence.

He was struggling to balance after having three or four drinks at the time of the assault, according to public court documents seen by the Associated Press.

However, county attorney Robert Hilder said on Monday the actor had been sober since the incident on January 25 and showed remorse on a number of occasions.

Daniele Bernfeld, for her part, said the plea deal did not go far enough, saying the attack had caused her long-term damage. In a statement read out in court, she said she thought she “was going to die” when Emile Hirsch was choking her.

She said he grabbed her from behind, put her in a chokehold, pulled her across the table and landed on top of her on the floor, putting his hands around her throat.

Emile Hirsch is best known for his work with Sean Penn.

He took the lead role in Sean Penn’s 2007 film Into the Wild and starred alongside him in Milk.

Emile Hirsch was at Sundance for the premiere of the drama Ten Thousand Saints.