TAURANGA, New Zealand — AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd pleaded guilty in a New Zealand court Tuesday to a charge of threatening to kill a man who used to work for him. He also pleaded guilty to possessing meth and marijuana.
Rudd faces up to seven years in prison on the threatening-to-kill charge. Rudd acknowledged in a court summary of facts that he’d offered cash, vehicles and a house to an associate after asking him to have the former employee “taken out” and that he’d also told the man that he was going to kill him.
Rudd, 60, was released on bail pending a June sentencing hearing.
By entering the guilty pleas, Rudd avoided a trial that was to begin today. Prosecutors agreed to drop a second charge of threatening to kill. Earlier, citing a lack of evidence, they dropped a murder-for-hire charge.
Rudd’s lawyer Craig Tuck said he will seek a discharge without conviction in the case. New Zealand law gives a judge the discretion not to enter a conviction even after a guilty plea if the judge thinks the consequences of a conviction outweigh the seriousness of the crime.
Judge Robert Wolff said he would not enter a conviction against Rudd until he’s heard Tuck’s arguments.