Almost as soon as MTV News reported [article id="1614453"]Chris Brown's unexpected guilty plea[/article] in his felony assault case stemming from a February altercation with former girlfriend Rihanna, the comments section of the article lit up. Readers obviously had very strong reactions to the development, and we wanted to hear more. So MTV's Tim Kash hit the streets in New York's Times Square to find out what you thought of the deal and how you would have chosen to sentence the singer.

Almost everyone we spoke with was surprised about Brown's plea deal. "I thought with his celebrity status and the lawyers he had backing, he would try and fight it and try and look presentable," said Nate Silverman, adding that he believed the sentence was too light and Brown should have been forced to serve jail time.

Shawn Adams concurred with that assessment. "I think he really needs to learn his lesson," he said. "He needs a little jail time. If you seen what he did to her face -- that speaks enough."

Several people would have liked to see Rihanna speak out on the issue of domestic violence during Monday's (June 22) hearing. "I think she should use this for all the teenagers she's a role model for -- don't keep your mouth shut," said Dagga Maynard. "If this is happening, go tell somebody."

If Ciara Griffin were in charge of sentencing, she would have come up with something a little harsher than 180 days of community service. "I would put him on every street in America at different times, in the public eye, cleaning up garbage and getting as much abuse as he deserves off people because I think he really deserves the worst," she said. "How dare he do that to Rihanna! She's such a strong woman!"