Reality TV star Nicole Richie was released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after serving exactly 82 minutes of what was supposed to be a four-day sentence.
Accompanied by her lawyer and boyfriend Joel Madden, the five-months pregnant Richie entered the same jail in Los Angeles, as friend Paris Hilton.
Nicole arrived at 3:15 p.m. to be booked in for her four-day sentence. However by 4:37 p.m, she was a free woman.
But the episode brought more criticism to a department already under fire for releasing Richie’s “Simple Life” co-star, Paris Hilton, before her sentence was completed.
“It is wrong. It sends the wrong message to our youth,” L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said.
Richie’s jailing was a result of her Dec. 11 arrest by California Highway Patrol officers. She was driving the wrong way on the 134 Freeway in Burbank after using marijuana and Vicodin. After officers spotted Richie in the carpool lane, she told them she had smoked pot and taken the painkiller. As part of her sentence, the now-pregnant Richie also agreed to serve three years of probation, must enroll in an alcohol education program and was fined $2,048.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said federal sentencing guidelines dealing with jail overcrowding allowed local officials to reduce the time for Richie and other inmates with similar charges.
Richie, 25, was treated “in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence,” Deputy Sheriff Maribel Rizo said, reading from a statement.
In 2006, actress Michelle Rodriguez received a 60-day sentence for violating probation and was out after four hours and 20 minutes because of jail overcrowding.
Over the last five years, more than 200,000 inmates have been released early because of overcrowding in county jails.
Late last month, Richie pleaded guilty, was ordered to spend four days in jail, fined $2,048 (1,022 pounds) and placed on three-years probation.
Now that she’s served her hard time, Richie is expected to resume touring with her man, Madden and the band, Good Charlotte, and planning for her wedding.