Julian Niccolini, co-owner of the famed Four Seasons restaurant, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault yesterday stemming from an incident that took place in the restaurant last year. Niccolini appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, where he was sentenced to a "conditional discharge" that spares him prison time but puts him on the hook should he break the law anytime in the next year, the Times reports. The restaurateur was initially charged with one felony count of sexual abuse, which would have landed him seven years in prison if convicted.
At the time, the victim told detectives at the NYPD's Special Victims Division that Niccolini "tried to kiss her, touching her legs and buttocks and pulling her toward him...then reached through an opening in the back of her dress and tugged on her bra until it ripped, touched her breasts, yanked up her dress and tried to pull down her stockings." The victim was left with scratches on her back and a bruised hip.
Following his arraignment last summer, Niccolini maintained his innocence as he left the courthouse. Yesterday, he offered no comment save one from his lawyer: "The record speaks for itself."
