Sheriff in Hilton case took money from Gramps

June 12, 2007

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave Sheriff Lee Baca one week to come up with a detailed report on why, exactly, he defied a judge's orders and granted Paris Hilton a "reassignment" to house arrest after just 72 hours behind bars.

At a morning hearing, County Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Yvonne B. Burke said that Baca must outline why Hilton was allowed to go home as opposed to the other inmates at Century Regional Detention Facility compatriots complaining of emotional and physical problems, especially since Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer expressly forbade home detention and electronic monitoring in his sentencing ruling.

Critics have cried foul over what they've deemed as kid-gloves treatment for inmate 9818783.

"We welcome the board of supervisors to be our voice because we feel...there should be no favoritism to anyone and this should not be about Paris Hilton," said activist Najee Ali, director of the Los Angeles-based Project Islamic HOPE. "This should be about the thousands of other inmates currently incarcerated in L.A. County jail who need proper medical treatment and who aren't given medical treatment as Paris Hilton was."

Baca has steadfastly denied such charges, insisting the Simple Life star needed a change of scenery after an "inexplicable deterioration" in jail due to "severe" medical problems. Baca said Hilton was in a downward spiral due in part to lack of proper medication, and he made the decision only after consulting county psychiatrists.

While there has been no official word on what ails Hilton, she acknowledged in a phone call to Barbara Walters Sunday to having been "severely depressed" at the jail.

On Monday, Gloria Allred filed a claim with the county, accusing the sheriff and officials at Century Regional Detention Facility of denying her client, inmate Pamela Richardson, basic necessities. Like the use of her prosthetic leg.

"I know I am not Paris Hilton," Richardson said in a statement released through Allred, "but I am a human being with medical needs, and I don't understand why I was treated in the way that I was." Such a claim is the precursor to a lawsuit. County officials say they are already receiving dozens of similar complaints.

Meanwhile, Baca's office is denying suggestions that a $1,000 campaign contribution from William Barron Hilton, Paris' grandfather, helped him make the decision to relocate the socialite. Sheriff's Department spokesperson Steve Whitmore said the money "has no bearing on the way she has been treated."

But the appearance of playing favorites with Hilton has led to a former county employee to launch an effort to have Baca recalled. Andrew Ahlering says on his recallbaca.com site that he is "not anti-Hilton" but wants the sheriff to "be held personally responsible for the failings of his jail system to ensure equal rights for all."

Not surprisingly, Baca is getting support from one quarter.

After paying a visit to Hilton at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility's medical ward Monday, Hilton attorney Richard Hutton told reporters that his client was doing "as well as she can."

"The staff here is giving her excellent medical care. She's being treated the same as everyone else in jail. She is receiving no preferential treatment."

E Online.com