Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

LYNWOOD, Calif. - Nicole Richie was released from jail Thursday after serving 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of drugs.

The reality show star, who checked into jail in this Los Angeles suburb at 3:15 p.m., was released at 4:37 p.m. "based on her sentence and federal guidelines," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Maribel Rizo said without elaborating.

When asked whether Richie, who is four months pregnant, spent her brief sentence in a jail cell, Rizo replied: "I have no further comment."

A call to Richie's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, was not immediately returned Thursday. An e-mail message to her publicist Nicole Perna was not immediately answered.

The brief jail stint took place at the county jail for women, the same place her "The Simple Life" co-star Paris Hilton was housed for nearly three weeks after she was convicted of driving on a suspended license while on probation for an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

Richie pleaded guilty in late July to a misdemeanor DUI charge in a deal with prosecutors that helped her avoid a potential year in jail on a second alcohol-related conviction.

Her first conviction was in 2003, for driving under the influence of alcohol.

She was arrested again on Dec. 11, 2006, after witnesses reported seeing her black Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle headed the wrong way on a freeway in Burbank. The California Highway Patrol said they found her parked in the car-pool lane.

Richie, the daughter of Lionel Richie, told authorities she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin, a CHP officer said at the time. No drugs were found on her or in the car.

Richie had the option of serving 90 hours either in county jail or at any city jail. She would have had to serve the full sentence in a city lockup.

Message edited 8/23/2007 9:20:35 PM.

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

If she did 82 mins of a 4 day sentence...what will Lohan do.. 5 mins for a 1 day sentence.
What a complete joke!

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

82 minutes, huh? That's how long it took me to do laundry tonight.

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Posted by Mssissy

If she did 82 mins of a 4 day sentence...what will Lohan do.. 5 mins for a 1 day sentence.
What a complete joke!

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

I have no words

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Un-f*#@inbelievable!

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Pathetic!

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

this is what I have learned...

as long as you have money, you can get away with anything! even murder

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

this is what I have learned...

as long as you have money, you can get away with anything! even murder

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Posted by SweetestOfPeas

this is what I have learned...

as long as you have money, you can get away with anything! even murder

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

Nicole Richie served 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for DUI on Thursday due to jail overcrowding, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Accompanied by her lawyer and boyfriend Joel Madden, the five-months pregnant Richie entered the jail in Lynwood, Calif., at 3:15 p.m. for booking, listed at 5'1" and 105 lbs. She was processed into the system and released at 4:37 p.m., a sheriff's statement said.

"Miss Richie was cooperative during the process," the statement said.

The statement said she was released "based on her sentence and federal court guidelines." Under the current sheriff's policy, non-violent female offenders sentenced to 30 days or less are booked and released within 12 hours.

Richie was "treated in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence," the statement said.

Richie, 25, who's pregnant by Madden, pleaded guilty to DUI on July 27. As part of her sentence, she also agreed to serve a three-year probation term, must enroll in an alcohol education program and was fined $2,048.

She was arrested for DUI on Dec. 11 after being spotted driving her black Mercedes SUV the wrong way on an L.A. freeway. She was previously convicted of DUI in June 2003.

Richie told Diane Sawyer in an interview earlier this month that going to jail was "my way of paying my dues and taking responsibility and being an adult."

Re: Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

so my next question is...

How many other drunk drivers are again on the road because the jails were too "full"?

Glad I don't live in Cali!