Charlie Sheen likely headed to prison for assault charges

Charlie Sheen's plea bargain negotiations with the Pitkin County, Colo., district attorney's office have hit an impasse, largely because his lawyers seem convinced that their client is either unwilling or unable to stay out of trouble.

In any event, Sheen seems to be staring at a short stint in prison, TMZ reports.

The hard-living actor faces charges of menacing, criminal mischief and assault stemming from a Christmas fight with his wife, Brooke Mueller, in which he is alleged to have held a knife to her throat.

Sources close to the negotiations told TMZ that prosecutors originally were willing to accept a plea for a lesser charge, and no prison time, in exchange for two years' probation. But Sheen's lawyers reportedly nixed the idea because probation tends to include all these pesky requirements — no drinking, no fighting, no hanging around with the kind of women who get their picture taken with Tiger Woods — that Sheen, in their eyes, seems almost certain to violate. And rather than him hauled off to the hoosegow for violating probation, Sheen's lawyers are pushing for a short prison term right off the bat.

Sheen's lawyers, says TMZ, are pushing for a 10-day stint; prosecutors are holding out for at least 30.

Meanwhile, TMZ reports that even as Mueller and Sheen publicly insist they are not splitting, their lawyers are negotiating terms for a divorce. The website says Mueller's move to file divorce papers is imminent.

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