A distraught Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail today after a judge ruled that she had violated her probation by missing a string of alcohol education classes imposed for a 2007 drink-driving arrest.
Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel ordered the Mean Girls star to report for jail on July 20th. She also ordered Lohan to attend a 90-day residential substance abuse programme once she has completed her sentence.
Lohan (24), whose once promising movie career has foundered in recent years, sobbed loudly on hearing the sentence. Earlier, she tearfully begged the judge for another chance saying she was taking her alcohol education classes seriously.
"I am not taking this as a joke. This is my life. It is my career. It is something I have worked for all my life," the actress pleaded.
But Lohan, who did three stints in rehab in 2007, missed seven alcohol education classes over the past six months and had not attended her meetings once a week, as clearly instructed by the judge.
"I did the best I could to balance jobs and showing up," Lohan told Judge Revel, her voice croaking with emotion. "I was working . . . I was working with children, I wasn't taking it as a joke . . . I wanted to come back and make you happy."
The alcohol education classes were imposed for two 2007 drunken driving and cocaine possession arrests. Lohan spent 84 minutes in jail in that year as part of her sentence and was given three years probation.
Last October, her probation was extended for a year after the actress used what prosecutors termed "very creative" excuses for missing several earlier classes.
"After all that, she does not comply with the court's order and the court does find her in violation of her probation," Judge Revel said yesterday. "I couldn't have been more clear, and it wasn't done . . . it is like someone who doesn't think it's cheating unless she gets caught."
Lohan was sentenced to 30 days for each of the 2007 drunk driving charges and another 30 days for a 2007 reckless driving charge. The terms will run consecutively for a total 90 days.
Lohan is not expected to serve the entire sentence, however. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said non-violent women generally serve 25 per cent of their term, and there could be more time off for good behaviour and programmes to ease overcrowding in local jails.
Judge Revel had earlier declined to address an alert sent out in June by the alcohol monitoring device Lohan was ordered to wear in May after missing a hearing because she claimed she had lost her passport while at the Cannes film festival. Lohan protested via Twitter at the time that she had not been drinking.
Lohan found fame as an 11 year-old in the movie The Parent Trap and was considered one of Hollywood's most talented young actresses. Her career peaked during the 2003 and 2004 movies Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. But by age 20, Lohan was already attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and her hard-partying lifestyle was being chronicled by celebrity websites.
Her latest project is playing 1970s porn queen Linda Lovelace in a film that was due to start shooting this summer.
Reuters