Lance Armstrong has pleaded guilty to diminished charges relating to a December incident in which he was cited for hitting two parked cars and leaving the scene of an accident after a night of partying in Aspen, Colorado.

As part of a plea agreement, police dismissed the charges of failing to report an accident and driving too fast for conditions against the former pro cyclist in exchange for a guilty plea to a lesser charge of careless driving, as was originally reported by the Aspen Daily News.

Armstrong is no longer required to appear in court for a scheduled hearing in March after he paid $238.50 in fines and court costs on Friday, effectively bringing to close a case that could have produced more severe consequences.

Police originally charged Armstrong's girlfriend, Anna Hansen, in the case, after she told them she had been behind the wheel on December 28 when a vehicle owned by Armstrong damaged two parked cars as the couple drove home from a party.

"Hansen told me that she drove the GMC home because 'Lance had a little bit to drink so I was driving. I was not drinking'," detective Rick Magnuson wrote in his initial police report.

Upon further investigation, Magnuson discovered that it was Armstrong who had been driving.

Hansen's story fell apart when pressed the next day and she admitted to lying to police in an attempt to cover for Armstrong.

According to the police report, Hansen then told Magnuson: "We've had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I've got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family because I thought, 'Gosh, Anna Hansen hit some cars, it's not going to show up in the papers, but Lance Armstrong hit some cars, it's going to be a national story."

The charges were transferred to Armstrong on January 12 and he was scheduled to appear in court on March 17.

Because of the absence of a field sobriety test, police were unable to launch an investigation into Armstrong in regards to driving under the influence of alcohol. He was not charged with any alcohol-related offenses.