Former San Diego mayor Bob Filner pleads guilty to three criminal charges

Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner pleaded guilty Tuesday to three charges related to the sexual harassment allegations that drove him from office after less than a year.

Filner admitted to one count of false imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of battery in incidents involving three unnamed women.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Filner must give up his mayoral pension after March 6, when the felony was committed, and serve three years on probation and three months of house arrest.

He’s also barred from ever holding elected office again, and he cannot vote, serve on a jury or own a firearm while on probation.

Filner must undergo mental health treatment throughout his probation, and he faces up to six months in jail if he violates the terms of his probation.

The 71-year-old Filner resigned Aug. 30 after nearly two dozen women complained that he groped, fondled or acted inappropriately toward them, including being put in what several women described as the “Filner headlock” while he touched them inappropriately.

A former communications director and a parks worker have sued Filner, who previously served two decades as a U.S. congressman and as a school board member and city councilman in San Diego.