Jersey Shore Cast Member Pleads Not Guilty To Assault Charge

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — "Jersey Shore" cast member Ronnie Ortiz-Magro has pleaded not guilty to an aggravated assault charge in New Jersey.

The charge stems from a Sept. 4, 2009, fight outside a Seaside Heights nightclub in which Ortiz-Magro knocked another man unconscious.

The fight was shown during an episode of the first season of the popular MTV reality show.

Ortiz-Magro was arraigned on the charge Monday. The charge carries a potential prison term of up to five years.

The other man in the fight, 26-year-old Stephen Izzo of Berkeley Township, also has filed a lawsuit against Ortiz-Magro, MTV and the show's producers.

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