Actor who played Screech on sitcom to start jail in January

Former "Saved by the Bell" actor Dustin Diamond will start serving his four-month jail sentence with work release in January for an altercation at a Wisconsin bar.

WISN-TV and WITI-TV report that Diamond appeared in Ozaukee County court Wednesday and withdrew his appeal of a disorderly conduct conviction. The sentence starts Jan. 15.

Diamond, who played Screech on the 1990s TV show, was convicted in June of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. He was cleared of a felony. He was to start jail during the summer, but a judge stayed the sentence pending his appeal.

Diamond testified he was trying to protect his girlfriend when he pulled out a pocketknife at the Port Washington bar last Christmas Day.

Port Washington is 25 miles north of Milwaukee.

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