Kid Rock pleads no contest in Ga. brawl

ATLANTA, July 23 (UPI) -- Recording artist Kid Rock has pleaded no contest to one count of simple battery in connection with a brawl at a Georgia Waffle House last year.

The singer, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, was sentenced Monday to one year of probation, six hours of anger-management counseling and 80 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, E! Online reported.

"I think my client is satisfied," Darryl Cohen, Ritchie's lawyer, told the entertainment news Web site. "He would like to have tried it. He came within a hairbreadth of going to trial."

The singer had initially pleaded innocent to the misdemeanor.

The charge stemmed from a fracas that took place at an Atlanta-area Waffle House last October following a concert.

A member of Ritchie's entourage reportedly argued with another Waffle House customer, then the altercation became physical and Ritchie got involved. Ritchie and his group left the scene but were later arrested by police on their tour bus.

E! Online said Ritchie tried to make up for the incident by appearing at a Georgia Waffle House where he waited on customers, signed autographs and auctioned off concert tickets.