Sopranos assault case is settled

Vincent Pastore appeared in the hit show from 1999-2000.

Former Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore has reached an out of court settlement with his ex-girlfriend over claims that he assaulted her.

The undisclosed deal was struck shortly before Mr Pastore was due to give evidence in Manhattan's Supreme Court.

Lisa Regina sued the actor for $5.5m (£3.8m) over an alleged assault in 2005 while they were travelling by car.

Mr Pastore, who played Big Pussy in the TV drama, admitted attempted assault and was given community service.

He was also ordered to attend anger management classes.

'Closure'

As he left the court, the 62-year-old expressed his relief that it was over.

"How can anybody be happy about something like this?" he added.

Ms Regina, 47, said she was "just glad there's closure and I can move forward".

She also refused to disclose terms of the settlement, and said: "What I got, you can't put a price on - peace and closure."

The writer, actress and acting coach claimed that during the car journey in April 2005, Mr Pastore punched her, grabbed her hair and forced her head towards the gear stick.

In his only day of testimony at the trial, the actor said he became upset when she tried to phone a former boyfriend and he concluded that she no longer loved him.

He said he threw Ms Regina out of the door and dumped her luggage at the side of the road while she attempted to pull down his trousers, and admitted he pulled her hair.

The actor also told the court that his former partner shouted to onlookers: "Big Pussy's beating me up! Sopranos!"

Mr Pastore played the mobster in the hit HBO series from 1999-2007.