Money Matters, Simplified.
Nicole Richie's probation ends early
by Neka Sehgal - December 30, 2010 - comments
Richie had been arrested shortly after midnight on Dec. 11, 2006 after being pulled over for driving drunk down the wrong side of the Ventura Highway while talking on her cellphone.
While there are many like Lindsay Lohan who are still tottering on the road to sobriety, it seems like Nicole Richie has cleaned up her act and got herself back on the right path after some very public meltdowns.
Richie is a free woman and officially no longer on probation.
The 29-year-old reality star-turned-fashion designer’s probation stemming from a DUI arrest in 2006 was terminated in the Los Angeles courts on Wednesday.
Early probation
On Dec. 29, Richie's lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, presented to the judge evidence that Nicole had complied with the terms of her probation and had also successfully completed the required amount of alcohol education classes well before time.
Satisfied that Richie had sufficiently met all guidelines required to complete her probation, the judge cut short her 18-month probation by a couple of months.
Nicole was supposed to end her probation in February 2011, but was cleared well before time after she managed to successfully fulfill her obligations.
Probation for a DUI charge in 2006
Richie had been arrested shortly after midnight on Dec. 11, 2006 for driving drunk down the wrong side of the Ventura Highway while talking on her cellphone.
Nicole had later confessed to smoking marijuana and taking Vicodin before getting into the car.
She had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four days in jail but spent 82 minutes behind bars for her indiscretion before being released and put on probation.
In June, Richie's probation was extended by a year when she had trouble balancing the court-ordered alcohol education classes while raising her two kids.
Nicole was supposed to end her probation in February 2011, but was cleared well before time after she managed to successfully fulfill her obligations.
Transformation from wild child to dedicated mom
The former party girl has been on the straight and narrow for the past few years.
She turned over a new leaf after becoming a mom and later getting married to her boyfriend of four years, rocker Joel Madden.
The couple has a one-year-old son, Sparrow, and a three-year-old daughter, Harlow.
Richie has confessed to getting treatment for cocaine and heroin use. She is currently focusing on her family and her relationship with Joel Madden and has plans to expand her House of Harlow brand.
"Besides being responsible for myself, I'm now responsible for someone else," she told Diane Sawyer after announcing her first pregnancy. "And I have to set the right examples. I have to really be someone that I would want my child to look up to."