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      *Criminal charges against rapper Tony Yayo were dismissed yesterday (Feb. 14) in a case involving an assault against the teen son of a hip hop rival.

      The artist, whose real name is Marvin Bernard, was alleged to have smacked 14-year-old James Rosemond for wearing a t-shirt with the words Czar Entertainment, which is the company owned by rival The Game's manager, Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond.

       Charges of misdemeanor assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child were dismissed as part of a plea deal to a lesser, noncriminal harassment charge and 10 days of community service.       

       Yayo's attorney Scott Leemon said the G-Unit rapper took the plea deal to avoid the "unnecessary hardships" of a trial.      

      Leemon had previously told MTV News that Yayo's acquaintance Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher had admitted to police in an unrelated jailhouse interview that he was the one who actually slapped the teen. In 2007, Yayo pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed that he had tried to pull Fletcher away from the teen during the incident.

       "As I told you from the beginning, Tony Yayo did not hit anyone and would never do anything to harm a child," Leemon said in a statement. "This fact was confirmed by Mr. Fletcher when he told members of the notorious hip-hop police in August that he did this on his own. The hip-hop police buried this helpful information, and the charges against Tony Yayo proceeded until today. Without a doubt, today's proceedings have validated Mr. Bernard's claims he was falsely accused. ... All that Tony Yayo admitted to doing was getting out of the car and glaring at the victim. Once he realized what Fletcher was doing, he went and grabbed Fletcher to pull him away from the victim."       

       Fletcher pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to nine months in prison, to run concurrently with the state prison sentence he's now serving on a narcotics charge.       

       Cynthia Reed, the mother of the teen involved in the case, issued a statement Thursday following the dismissal of the charges.

       “As much as Marvin Bernard tried to wiggle his way out of his role in assaulting my son, who is a minor, he had to accept responsibility to accept a plea deal," Reed stated. "He couldn't hide behind 50 cent, G-unit, Violator Management or his co-defendant. This malicious crime against a child is despicable and any industry sponsor or company that supports individuals like Tony Yayo should remove themselves from a relationship with him and his affiliated entities. Crimes against children should never be legitimized just because a person is an entertainer. A public apology is appropriate at this time, not only from Tony Yayo but from 50 Cent for denying this event ever happened--- as if my son was lying when all along they knew this assault had taken place."