Paris checks in to county jail

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US hotel heiress and celebrity Paris Hilton has reported to a Los Angeles County jail to begin a three-week stay for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

The 26-year-old heiress went to her parent's house after the MTV Music Awards and they drove her to the Men's Central Jail in LA, where she officially surrendered herself.

This was to avoid going directly to the Century Regional Detention Facility where she is due to serve her sentence. The photographers waiting outside were believed to pose a threat to her personal safety.

Though a judge sentenced her to 45 days behind bars, Paris was expected to serve only 23 days because of a state law that requires shorter sentences for good behaviour.

At the MTV Movie Awards she briefly spoke to reporters about her sentence. "I am trying to be strong right now,'' she said. "I'm really scared but I'm ready to face my sentence.''

Later her lawyer released a statement: "I am ready to face the consequences of violating probation. During the past few weeks, I have had a lot of time to think and have come to realise I made some mistakes. "This is an important point in my life and I need to take responsibility for my actions. In the future, I plan on taking more of an active role in the decisions I make."

The 13-year-old jail has been an all-female facility since March 2006. The two-storey concrete building sits in an industrial area about five miles south east of central Los Angeles beside train tracks and beneath a busy freeway. Paris will be housed in the facility's "special needs'' unit.

Officers arrested her in Hollywood on 7 September last year. In January, she pleaded no contest to the reckless-driving charge and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 (£750) in fines.

She was pulled over by California Highway Patrol officers on 15 January. They informed Paris she was driving on a suspended licence and she signed a document acknowledging she was not to drive.

She was pulled over by sheriff's deputies on 27 February, at which time she was charged with violating her probation.

Courtesy from AOL