‘Charlie Brown’ actor guilty of making threats
Defendant says he’s mentally ill; agrees to prison term
SAN DIEGO — The man who voiced the character of Charlie Brown in the classic “Peanuts” TV specials pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he made a criminal threat and tried to make another.
Under the terms of this plea agreement, Peter Robbins agreed to a four-year, eight-month prison sentence, of which he’ll have to serve at least 80 percent. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 7.
Robbins, 59, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to separate incidents. In one of them, prosecutors said, he sent letters to a manager at a mobile home park where he had been living, threatening to harm the manager and his wife.
The other charge relates to letters from Robbins had written in which he offered to pay money to have Sheriff Bill Gore killed. In light of his plea, other counts having to do with threats against a judge and vandalism in the county jail were dismissed.
Robbins, who previously lived in the North County, admitted in court Tuesday that he has a previous strike on his record for a 2013 case in which he threatened and stalked a plastic surgeon who performed breast implants on Robbins’ then-girlfriend.
He also attacked the girlfriend and made death threats to her, authorities said. He had been out of custody on probation on that case when he was arrested again earlier this year for violating the terms of release, including cutting off his GPS monitoring device and not finishing required domestic violence classes.
Robbins appeared relatively subdued in the courtroom as a retired judge from Los Angeles went over the terms of his plea agreement.
When the judge asked if Robbins had any questions, he talked about suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He said he though it would be more appropriate for him to go to a treatment facility rather than prison.
“I want justice to be served,” Robbins told the judge. “I’m mentally ill. I feel I’m entitled to at least a second chance.”
Judge William Chidsey Jr. explained that he didn’t know all the circumstances behind the crimes Robbins was admitting to, but he said he trusted that the defense lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Joey Super, had counseled her client that pleading guilty was in his best interest.
The judge noted that the charges were very serious and that Robbins would be looking at significantly more prison time if the prosecutor could prove the case in a trial.
Chidsey told Robbins he would likely undergo a mental health evaluation in prison, and he advised him at the end of the hearing to take advantage of whatever counseling and treatment the prison offers.
