Paris gets credit for "good behavior", jail-term cut to 23 days

The distressed jail-bound U.S. hotel heiress, Paris Hilton, who has been making immense efforts for the last two weeks to win freedom for her, is eventually favored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which has decided to cut Hilton’s sentence after reviewing the case and giving her credit for good behavior.

After failing to win the favor of the Superior Court judge Michael Sauer, who imposed 45-day sentence on her, the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune and the daughter of real estate magnate Rick Hilton, looking up at California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon her.

The 26-year-old high profile celebrity blonde even posted a blog on her homepage at social networking website MySpace.com, urging her 170,919 "friends" to sign a petition being organized by a supporter calling for the socialite to be spared jail time.

Hilton’s fans also launched a website, FreeParis.org, in an attempt to collect one million signatures on a petition seeking clemency by June 5, the date the hotel heiress is ordered to report to jail. "This petition is to ask Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon Paris Hilton for her mistake. Please allow her to her return to her career and life," the online petition says.

But all their efforts seem in vain. In his judgment on 4th May, Superior Court judge Michael Sauer rejected Hilton's defence that she didn't realize her license was suspended and ordered the blonde socialite to report to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California on June 5.

The online Free Paris Hilton petition has gathered more than 25,000 signatures; however a rival campaign, Jail Paris Hilton, for the reality TV star is twice as popular, with more than 60,000 supporters.

Paris got a setback when California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he has more pressing issues to deal with than whether to consider sparing celebrity socialite Paris Hilton from a jail sentence.

Meanwhile, Hilton has dropped her prison appeal. A lawyer for the heiress filed documents in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, indicating Hilton will not appeal the sentence, said court spokeswoman Katherine Roberts.

Hilton, who was sentenced to 45 days in county jail, is expected to only spend about half that long behind bars and serve her time separate from the general inmate population because of her fame, Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Her sentence was shortened after jail officials gave her credit for good behaviour, Whitmore said adding that they considered several factors in calculating the credit, including that she appeared for her latest court date.

The shorter sentence reflects an expectation that she is well behaved in jail. "This was decided because of her high profile," Whitmore said. "She will do fine if she follows the rules."

In the 2,200-inmate facility, the “Party Girl” will live in the "special needs housing unit," which contains 12 two-person cells reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates, he said.

Like all other inmates in the facility, the high-profile socialite will get at least an hour outside her cell each day to shower, watch television, participate in outdoor recreation or talk on the telephone, Whitmore said.

Hilton's troubles began in September when the socialite was arrested for drunken driving. She was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicant and driving with a blood alcohol level over California's legal limit of .08.

Labeled as the “Party Girl”, Hilton had pleaded not guilty of drunk driving in January, and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

Paris Hilton has been indulged in a number of cases. A Los Angeles party planner had accused her of bombarding him with angry phone calls, shoving him and threatening his life. In that case, a judge early last year ordered Hilton to stay away from the party planner. In June 2006, Hilton had a fender-bender accident when her Range Rover backed into a car in a parking garage after a shopping trip.

The life of the damsel has been in media spotlight ever since she entered the entertainment industry and has been subjected to criticism for her hard-partying lifestyle by almost everyone.

She is best known for starring in a fish-out-of-water reality show called, "The Simple Life" with a fellow heiress Nicole Richie, daughter of singer Lionel Richie. In November 2003, Hilton came in the headlines when a home video of her cavorting with her then-boyfriend Rick Solomon was published online.

Britney Spears and Paris Hilton topped the Former designer Mr. Blackwell's 47th annual "Worst Dressed" list and were described as "Style-free and fashion deprived” by the Blackwell.

Meanwhile, police has warned paparazzi and tabloids against trying to penetrate the facility to take photographs of Hilton behind bars.