Nicole Richie, reality television star
and celebrity socialite, was sentenced
to four days in jail on July 27, 2007,
after she pleaded guilty to charges of
driving while intoxicated.
She has until September 28, 2007, to
begin serving her sentence, but it was
not immediately clear when or where
she would be incarcerated.
The Glendale Superior Court in
California also handed Nicole Richie,
25, daughter of soul singer Lionel
Richie, a $ 2,048-fine.
She was also ordered to enroll in a
court-supervised rehabilitation
program for two-time offenders.
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie’s co-star
on the reality show The Simple Life,
had served 23 days in jail in June
2007 in Los Angeles for violating
probation by driving with a suspended
licence.
During the court proceedings, Superior
Court Commissioner Steven Lubell twice
warned Nicole that she could end up
doing 12 months behind bars if she
violates her probation. The judge told
her: “The court views this plea
agreement as a contract. 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. Being under the influence
of alcohol or drugs while driving is
extremely dangerous.”
Because of a 2003 DUI conviction,
Nicole had faced a mandatory sentence
of up to a year in jail if found
guilty in a trial that was set to
begin in August 2007.
Celebrity news website TMZ.com says
Nicole Richie is pregnant with her
first child.
Nicole was arrested on December 11,
2006, after police received reports of
a car traveling the wrong way down a
busy Los Angeles freeway. She failed a
roadside sobriety test and allegedly
told officers she had taken the
painkiller Vicodin and smoked
marijuana.
She was later charged with driving
under the influence of alcohol and an
unspecified drug.
Unlike Paris Hilton who threw tantrums
in the courtroom, Nicole Richie
appeared calm. Nicole was accompanied
to court by 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.
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