Celebrity socialite Nicole Richie pleaded guilty Friday to driving under the influence of drugs and was sentenced to four days in jail, a month after TV costar Paris Hilton completed a three-week stint behind bars.
Richie, 25, the waiflike daughter of singer Lionel Richie who costars with Hilton on the reality series The Simple Life, was ordered to serve her time by September 28, but it was not immediately clear when or where she would be incarcerated.
She also was fined $2,048, placed on three years' probation, and ordered to enroll in a court-supervised rehabilitation program for two-time offenders.
Because of a 2003 DUI conviction, Richie had faced a mandatory sentence of up to a year in jail if found guilty in a trial that was set to begin next month.
Appearing calm and composed and wearing a lose-fitting black shift dress with oversized sunglasses, she was accompanied to court by bodyguards and her boyfriend, singer Joel Madden of the rock band Good Charlotte.
Media interest in Richie's case intensified in recent weeks with reports circulating in celebrity magazines and the tabloid press that she is several months pregnant by Madden and plans to marry him. Those reports have not been confirmed.
During Friday's proceedings, Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lubell twice warned Richie that she could end up doing 12 months behind bars if she violates her probation.
"The court views this plea agreement as a contract," he told her. "If you violate the terms of this agreement, you can and you will go to county jail for more time than the court is giving you today."
He added: "Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs while driving is extremely dangerous."
The only words uttered by Richie during the hearing was "guilty" when asked how she pleaded to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs, and "yes" when asked if she acknowledged her previous conviction.
All references to alcohol in the latest case were dropped under the plea arrangement.
Emerging from the courthouse in the suburban Los Angeles city of Glendale, Richie walked past a phalanx of reporters and camera crews without saying a word and was whisked away in a sport utility vehicle.
Richie's plea deal stemmed from a traffic stop in December in which police said she was seen driving the wrong way on a Los Angeles freeway. Officers said then that she failed a field sobriety test and admitted she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin.
The December 11 stop came six weeks after it was revealed the rail-thin actress had checked herself into a treatment facility to address weight-loss issues. An arrest report at the time said the 5-foot-1 celeb weighed just 85 pounds.
Hilton was released from jail on June 26 after serving 22 days for violating her probation in a drunken-driving case.
Comments (15)
<b>Golden_surfer wrote</b>: <i>So, Ritchie, Hilton, Lohan...
Is being thrown in jail the new black or something?</i>
No, but not wanting to be the first Judge to let them go during the current "you-do-the-crime-you-do-the-time" wave <i>is!</i> And Judges never have to worry about "black", since that's all they wear! ;)
This isn't really news, it's just annoying.
the sad thing is that they become even more popular after these arrests! :/
The real world does not see this as punishment, but as a slap on the hands. The celebrity world needs to wake up because soon the reality of the real world will come crashing down around them because the law cannot keep treating their kind with such delicate white gloves. The people of America see the unfairness of it all and will start voting for new laws and new law enforcers.
*sigh* she isnt going to jail, it's 4 days! I think all the pouting and whining make it seem like they are being severly punished, but what they are doing is such easy time i dont know how anyone could cry over it.
And when it Lohan going to jail? and will she please get some sort of hard ass judge that alot of real people get and give her some REAL jail time, not this under a month crap for repeated offenses (when real people do this they are called "strikes" and they only get three before thay are put away for life).
I'm glad she's going to jail. She deserves it.
So, Ritchie, Hilton, Lohan... Is being thrown in jail the new black or something?
I see a TV show coming soon.
She could of killed someone. She should go long than Paris did.
she needs to be in rehab for about 2 years.
four days? wow.
These people are terrible role models for our youth. They shouldn't just be incarcarated, they should be shot!
First Paris and now Nicole. Will Lindsay be the next annoying celebrity to serve time? I hope so.
i agrree the have money to hire some one no reason to drive drunk
Why don't these girls just hire drivers... I thought that is what the rich did anyways. All of these celeb DUIs are getting boring. I just don't care about their lives enough. Get a cab!