The son of Pepperdine president Andrew K. Benton pleaded no contest Friday in Superior Court to charges of threatening his father and possessing a firearm, and will be sentenced to two years in state prison, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said according to multiple reports.
Christopher Andrew Benton, 27, admitted to threatening his father during an argument Aug. 22 at the family’s residence on the campus of Pepperdine University. University police called sheriff’s deputies following the argument, but Benton left before the deputies arrived at the scene.
Benton returned to campus the next day and was arrested following a chase by sheriff’s deputies in which he allegedly discarded a firearm on a hillside. Benton was charged with five felony counts, including possession of a firearm by a narcotic addict, and could have faced five years in prison.
Benton entered a plea of no contest shortly before a preliminary hearing was to begin on Friday. His next court date is Sept. 21, when he will be sentenced by Judge Karen Nudell, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Rena Durrant according to multiple reports.
In an email sent to the Pepperdine community, Andrew K. Benton said his son had dealt with substance abuse issues for 14 years, and said that Chris Benton would not be returning to the Pepperdine campus until the university’s Threat Assessment Team determined it was safe for him to do so.
In the email, Benton said his son would not return to campus for “some time, probably a long time…It is not an easy thing to do, but it is appropriate.”
Chris Benton was convicted of drug-related charges in 2005 and 2009 and grand theft of a person in 2003, according to court records.
Benton has been wanted for questioning in the investigation into the death of 25-year-old Katie Wilkins, who died in April of a heroin overdose. Surveillance footage showed Wilkins picking up Benton at the McDonald’s restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway the night before she was found dead, and believe Benton was the last person to see her alive.