ADVERTISEMENT

Ex-Broadcom CEO Nicholas Cuts Plea Deal in Las Vegas Drugs Case

Ex-Broadcom CEO Nicholas Cuts Plea Deal in Las Vegas Drugs Case

(Bloomberg) -- Former Broadcom Inc. Chief Executive Officer Henry Nicholas cut a plea deal in Las Vegas that will spare him prison over drug-trafficking charges.

Nicholas agreed to enter a so-called Alford plea to two counts of possession of a controlled substance, according to a filing Wednesday in Nevada state court. In this kind of plea a defendant maintains his innocence while acknowledging there’s evidence that could prove his guilt.

Ex-Broadcom CEO Nicholas Cuts Plea Deal in Las Vegas Drugs Case

As part of the agreement, the drug-trafficking charges will be dropped. Nicholas agreed to attend substance abuse counseling twice a month for a year, complete 250 hours of community service, “stay out of trouble,” and donate $500,000 to a state-approved organization involved in treating drug addiction.

“By no stretch of the imagination would anyone consider Dr. Nicholas or Ms. Fargo to be traffickers distributing drugs into the community,” David Chesnoff, Nicholas’s lawyer, said in a statement. “This positive agreement allows them to help people grappling with addiction by providing substantial financial support to programs in Clark County for treatment and rehabilitation.”

Nicholas and his companion, Ashley Fargo, were arrested last summer at the Wynn Encore after police found a wide assortment of narcotics, including heroin and cocaine, in their villa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Joe Schneider

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.