LOS ANGELES — Embattled Hollywood starlet, Lindsay Lohan, was sentenced to four months in jail after a judge found her guilty of probation violation for allegedly stealing a $2,500 necklace, according to People Magazine.
The 24-year-old actress, who was allowed to post bail, was also sentenced to 480 hours of community service by a Los Angeles judge. At 5:30 p.m. PT, Lohan arrived at Lynwood Jail in a sheriff’s vehicle – her fourth trip to the facility – and was given her orange jumpsuit, but as usual walked out almost immediately after being booked.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner refused to dismiss the grand theft case against Lohan, but reduced it to a misdemeanor.
The “Mean Girls” star arrived at the courthouse wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, blue trousers and a scarf.
Sautner justified her decision by saying she often sees more serious cases get reduced to misdemeanors, and this misdemeanor still has a potential penalty of a year in jail.
Lohan’s attorney, Shawn Holley, said Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers hadn’t proved Lohan intended to deprive the jewelry store of the necklace permanently.
Holley said it was more “absentmindedness” than theft, but Sautner said she wasn’t buying it.
“I see the intent here,” Sautner said. “I see a level of brazenness with ‘Let me see what I can get away with here.”
Sautner ruled that prosecutors had shown that Lohan violated her probation, but also said in reducing the charge that she was going to give the actress “an opportunity.”
Lohan entered a not guilty plea Friday and will be back in court on May 11 for a pretrial hearing.
Investigative detectives testified that the actress wore the necklace days after it was taken and was photographed with it by paparazzi.
They said Lohan also made three visits within a week to the jewelry store that accused her of stealing the necklace, but never purchased anything before leaving with the item, the shop’s owner testified.
Sofia Kaman said she waited a day to report the necklace stolen because Lohan had told her she would return the next day to purchase a ring. Kaman says she did not have any agreement with Lohan allowing her to leave the store with the necklace.
An associate of Lohan’s turned in the necklace to detectives in early February after the investigators obtained a search warrant for the actress’ home.
Lohan has been a courthouse fixture since last May when she missed a hearing in her drunken driving case. Since then, two judges have sent her to jail twice and rehab, also twice, according to the Associated Press.
Kamofie reported its necklace stolen roughly three weeks after Lohan was released from treatment at the Betty Ford Center, where she also encountered trouble. A rehab worker accused Lohan of battery during an argument in which the worker told authorities Lohan had missed curfew and was caught with two other girls who admitted they had been drinking.
Prosecutors declined to file charges in that incident.
On Wednesday, Fiore Films announced it had cast the actress to play the wife of John Gotti Jr., the son of the infamous mob boss dubbed the “Teflon Don,” in a biopic of the family. The project, title, “Gotti: Three Generations,” is scheduled to begin shooting later this year in Lohan’s native New York.
In an interview with the AP, Lohan said she was eager to put her court cases behind her and once again be known as an actress.
“I’m really excited to be back on set and clear up all the misinterpretations about me and show this is what I love to do,” Lohan said.
“I think in the past, I had a lot of distractions,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve lived a lot. When I’m on set, it’s about the film.”
