Rep. Bob Filner , D-Calif., has paid $166 in fines and fees to resolve allegations that he pushed a United Airlines baggage employee at Dulles International Airport in August — a move that could jump start a House ethics probe into the incident.

Filner’s lawyer confirmed Tuesday that the eight-term congressman entered an “Alford plea” Monday allowing him to continue to assert his innocence while admitting that there likely was enough evidence to convict him of a misdemeanor trespassing charge.

The plea was entered in Loudoun County General District Court in Virginia after prosecutors reduced the original charge of assault and battery.

Filner paid a $100 fine and $66 in court costs, effectively ending the criminal case against him.

Airport police accused Filner, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, of trying to enter an unauthorized area on Aug. 19, pushing aside a baggage employee’s outstretched arm and then refusing to leave the area.

“Like millions of other Americans, I was frustrated by a delayed flight, delayed luggage and no information or empathy from the airlines,” Filner said in a statement released Monday. “However, I wrongly took out my frustration on the ‘front office’ baggage employees.”

Filner’s statement maintains that he “did not strike, push, or shove anyone. ... Nor did I seek any sort of special treatment because I was a congressman.”

Although Filner’s legal troubles appear to be over, he may still face disciplinary action from the House ethics committee, which on Sept. 18 empaneled a special subcommittee, chaired by Texas Democrat Gene Green , to investigate his conduct.

For a longer version of this story, see CQ Politics.