Nicole Richie: 82-minutes for DUI and drugs

August 25, 2007

Los Angeles - Nicole Richie, daughter of 70's singer Lionel Richie, was freed from jail after serving only 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and possessing drugs.

Nicole Richie, daughter of 70's singer Lionel Richie, was freed from jail after serving only 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and possessing drugs.

The 25-year-old pregnant and unmarried actress was fingerprinted but did not reach her jail cell.

Under guidelines to prevent prison overcrowding, inmates sentenced to less that 30 days for non-violent crimes are usually released within 12 hours.

Richie was arrested in December for driving the wrong way down a motorway.

After pleading guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, she was sentenced to four days in jail last month, fined and handed three years' probation.

She was also ordered by a judge to complete a drug treatment program.

At the time of Richie's arrest, police said she told them that she had taken a painkiller and smoked marijuana.

Richie arrived at the county jail in Lynwood with her boyfriend, Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden, and lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley.

She spent her spell in prison being booked and photographed.

Holley said: "She was really treated like any other inmate."

According to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Maribel Rizo, Richie was released "based on her sentence and federal guidelines."

The sheriff's department added in a statement that she was "treated in the same manner as other inmates with a similar sentence".

Richie's Simple Life co-star Paris Hilton served 23 days in the same prison earlier this year breaking the terms of probation relating to an earlier drunk driving charge.

Richie's original jail term of 96 hours was reduced to 90 due to time served at the time of her arrest.

Richie announced that she was pregnant just days after being handed a prison term.