US hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton was sentenced here
Friday to 45 days in jail for violating her probation in a
reckless-driving case.
A judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that the
26-year-old high profile celebrity heiress knowingly drove her
Bentley with a suspended license when she was pulled over on a
Hollywood street on February 27 for driving at night without
headlights.
Hilton was ordered to report to a local detention facility by
June 5, and if she fails to appear, she will be ordered to serve 90
days in jail, the judge said.
Testifying in her own defense before a packed courtroom, Hilton
said she was unaware her license had been suspended.
But the judge dismissed Hilton's argument, drawing her attention
to a "smoking gun" letter she had signed when she was pulled over
on an earlier occasion in January by the California Highway
Patrol.
By signing the letter, Hilton acknowledged that her license had
been suspended, according to the judge. The license had been
suspended as part of a probationary sentence in January for an
alcohol-related reckless driving offence in Hollywood last
year.
Hilton's attorney Howard Weitzman said Friday that he would
appeal against the sentence, which he described as "uncalled for,
inappropriate and bordering on the ludicrous."
"I think she was singled out because she is who she is. I've
been involved in cases and know of cases where people have second
and third driving-under-the-influence convictions and don't go to
jail," said Weitzman.
Hilton, who has had roles in a number of Hollywood movies and
reality TV shows, apologized to the judge before sentencing,
saying, "I did what I was told. I would never just drive because
Iwant to. I follow the law, I respect the law."
She appeared to be in disbelief when the judge ordered her to go
to jail, and cried as people left the courtroom.
(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2007)
