Paris Hilton to taste life behind bars

LOS ANGELES - Celebrity party girl Paris Hilton faces perhaps her most trying test Tuesday when she starts a stint behind bars, deprived of such essentials as make-up, mobile phones and martinis.

The 26-year-old heiress to the Hilton hotel empire was sentenced to 45 days in jail last month by a Los Angeles judge for driving on a suspended license, violating the sentence imposed when she was caught driving while drunk.

She has until Tuesday, June 5 to turn herself into the women's prison in Lynwood, southern Los Angeles, to serve her time where she will swap her designer labels for a less-than-flattering orange jump-suit.

Since her sentencing, she has sought via an Internet petition to appeal for mercy to former film star, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, urging him to intervene to overturn her sentence.

But her plea fell on deaf ears, and in the past weeks Hilton has been conspicuously absent on the Hollywood party circuit, apparently traumatized by the fate that awaits her.

Her mother, Kathy, told the Internet site TMZ.com that her daughter was "preparing and praying."

Hilton, who stands to inherit a 30 to 50 million dollar slice of her family's hotel fortune, is more used to living it up in luxury hotel suites around the world and being toasted at A-list only parties.

And it would appear that her celebrity status will indeed grant her a measure of protection from the usual harsh prison environment that greets other inmates.

Her spokesman Elliot Mintz said he couldn't "make any comment about Ms Hilton" and how she will present herself at the prison.

But it seems she will be housed in a special part of the jail away from the prying eyes of other prisoners, and will probably only have one cell mate.

Authorities have said that she could get out within 23 days for good behavior.

Her arrival at the jail on Tuesday is likely to trigger another media frenzy. And efforts to stop pictures of one of the world's most photographed women in prison garb, behind cell doors, from being taking and being smuggled out of the jail, could also prove a challenge.

According to one owner of a Los Angeles photo gallery, Frank Griffin, any snap of a disgraced Hilton in prison could fetch the lucky owner as much as 500,000 million dollars.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore denied that Hilton would not be getting any special treatment because of her celebrity status.

But he said prison staff would do everything to protect her safety and security at the jail for both staff and inmates.

Although she is an heiress, Hilton has become independently wealthy in the past decade thanks to her looks, her name, and her knack of making headlines at key moments in her life.

A high-school drop-out, Hilton first began to be noticed while working as a model for property tycoon Donald Trump's agency, rapidly acquiring a reputation as a party girl along with her sister, Nicky Hilton.

But it was the release of an Internet home sex video featuring her and then boyfriend Rick Salomon which catapulted her into the public consciousness.

Hilton professed she was mortified at the appearance of the sex tape, but skeptics have noted that it appeared just before the premiere of her reality television show "The Simple Life."

Reports said Hilton eventually received a 400,000-dollar cut of the video's DVD and Internet profits. The heiress said in an interview last year she never received any payment from the lurid enterprise.

At the same time, Hilton has nurtured money-spinning parallel businesses, endorsing jewelry, perfume and clothing lines whilst pursuing acting and music careers, with varying degrees of success.

Agence France-Presse

Paris Hilton could be sent back to jail today (08.06.07).

The hotel heiress - who was released from California's Century Regional Detention Facility yesterday (07.06.07) for unspecified medical reasons and put on 40-day house arrest after serving just five days of her sentence - has been ordered to report to the Los Angeles Superior Court at 9am today (08.06.07).

A judge will hear her case for "reassignment" to house arrest and decide if she should return to prison.

Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said her "reassignment" from her 8ft by 12ft cell to her luxury home was made after "extensive consultations" with jail doctors and the sentencing judge.

However, a court spokesman has insisted the decision was not approved by Judge Michael Sauer, who sentenced Paris last month for driving with a suspended licence.

At the time, Sauer had specifically ruled she could not serve her jail time at home under electronic monitoring.

Sauer set today's hearing after a request from the city's attorneys who are now suggesting Sheriff Lee Baca should be held in contempt of court for releasing Paris early.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, whose office prosecuted the 26-year-old, complained he had no idea she had left jail.

He said: "The judicial process may have been improperly circumvented. It is the city attorney's position that the decision on whether or not Ms. Hilton should be released early and placed on electronic monitoring should be made by Judge Sauer and not the Sheriff's Department.

"The sheriff's explanation for Paris' house arrest is puzzling, county jails are well-equipped to deal with medical situations involving inmates."

Paris was reportedly released after developing a rash, according to US TV show 'Entertainment Tonight', while gossip website TMZ.com claim she was in danger of having of a nervous breakdown.

County Supervisor Don Knabe fumed: "What transpired here is outrageous. I have received more than 400 angry emails and hundreds more phone calls from around the country. Her return home gives the impression of celebrity justice being handed out."

Paris, who was fitted with an ankle bracelet to keep track of her whereabouts, praised jail staff after being released in the early hours of yesterday morning.

She said: "Thank you for treating me fairly and professionally. I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope others have learned from my mistakes."

Quote:The hotel heiress - who was released from California's Century Regional Detention Facility yesterday (07.06.07) for unspecified medical reasons and put on 40-day house arrest after serving just five days of her sentence

Interesting, most mere mortals have to have medical treatment whilst remaining behind bars.

Paris Hilton freed from jail -- for now

Los Angeles - Celebrity party girl Paris Hilton left jail after just 72 hours sparking cries of favoritism, but returns to court Friday on a prosecutor's demand she serve her 45-day sentence behind bars.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore cited "medical reasons" for releasing Hilton, saying she was not free, but "reassigned" to house arrest while wearing an electronic tag.

Within hours city prosecutors filed a motion seeking her return to jail.

Jeffrey Isaacs, Chief of the City Attorney's Criminal Branch, said, "the decision whether or not Ms. Hilton should be released early and placed on electronic monitoring should be made by Judge (Michael) Sauer, and not the Sheriff's Department."

Sauer, who had ordered Hilton not get an ankle monitor, set a hearing for 9:00 am Friday morning, the statement said.

Hilton, 26, reported to jail late Sunday to serve her sentence, meted out in May for driving with a license that had been suspended after a drunk-driving arrest.

She was freed early Thursday, fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and told to serve out the rest of her sentence in her luxury Hollywood home.

Hilton thanked the sheriff's department and jail personnel "for treating me fairly and professionally."

"I am going to serve the remaining 40 days of my sentence. I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope that others have learned from my mistakes," she said.

But her early release triggered a wave of anger from civil liberties groups and on the Internet, with people condemning the special treatment allegedly being accorded to the heiress of the Hilton hotel fortune.

"One rule for the rich and famous and different rules for everyone else," said Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope.

"On any given day, a thousand female inmates are in custody. Why is one case, out of the blue, treated any different than them?" asked Steve Remige, president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton said in a statement, "This early release gives all of the appearances of economic and racial favoritism that is constantly cited by poor people and people of color."

According to the gossip website TMZ.com Hilton, who shot to fame after a sex-tape of her and an ex-boyfriend was released on the Internet, had been crying all the time, found it hard to sleep, and had been seen by a psychiatrist.

"Paris has been crying on the phone, saying she's not sleeping or eating. Paris says her cell is 'freezing cold.' She has three little blankets and no pillow. She's using one of the blankets as a pillow. The room is bright and jail noise echoes through her space," TMZ said, quoting sources.

Delgadillo said however that Los Angeles jails were equipped to deal with the medical needs of inmates and the decision to release her was "puzzling."

A powerhouse on the party circuit, the lanky Hilton is widely known for her minidresses, spray-on tan, platinum hair extensions and pouty poses.

She traded on her image as a so-called "celebutante" -- famous for being rich and famous -- and released a music album, starred in the reality show "The Simple Life."

She also appeared in films such as "House of Wax," "Pledge This," and the forthcoming "The Hottie and the Nottie."

Agence France Presse