After only three days behind bars, Paris Hilton traded a 12-by-8-foot cell for her 2,700-square-foot Hollywood Hills home when she was released early Thursday because of an unspecified medical condition.
Hilton was to be under home confinement, wearing an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, for the remaining 40 days of her sentence for violating probation in a reckless driving case.
The celebrity inmate was sent home from the L.A. County jail’s Lynwood lockup shortly after 2 a.m. in a stunning reduction to her original 45-day sentence.
No details were available on the nature of Hilton’s medical condition. Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore refused to answer questions about whether it was physical or psychological. Hilton’s lawyer and publicist did not return calls seeking comment.
“I can’t specifically talk about the medical situation other than to say that yes, it played a part in this”, Whitmore said at an early morning news conference outside the jail.
The decision to release Hilton was made by Sheriff Lee Baca, according to the Probation Department. A deputy at the sheriff’s information bureau said there would be no comment.
Hilton was housed in the “special needs” unit of the 13-year-old jail, separate from most of its 2,200 inmates. The unit contains 12 two-person cells reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates. Hilton didn’t have a cellmate.
Like other inmates in the special-needs area, Hilton took meals in her cell and was allowed outside for at least an hour each day to shower, watch TV in the day room, participate in outdoor recreation or talk on the telephone.
The 26-year-old hotel heiress’ path to jail began Sept. 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a Hollywood street in her Mercedes. She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.
On Jan. 15, she was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol. Informed that her license was suspended, Hilton signed a document acknowledging she was not to drive. Then, on Feb. 27, she was pulled over a third time, which led to her three-day incarceration.
Her new lockup is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom, Spanish-style home on .14 acres above the Sunset Strip.