Many women at the Los Angeles County jail where Paris Hilton is expected to arrive any day are already angry at the socialite, a former inmate said.
Susannah Johnson, who was released Saturday after a one-day stay at the jail, said inmates were angry at Hilton, believing officials were making room for the starlet at the expense of other inmates already coping with crowded conditions in the 2,200-bed jail.
“The only advice I could give her when she comes is to shut her mouth and do the time,” said Johnson, 35, of Claremont.
Hilton has been ordered to turn herself in by Tuesday to begin her sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
Some 15 photographers, reporters and television crews staked out positions at three entrances to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. Authorities had also cordoned off a grassy area outside the jail for members of the media.
“Today, Paris is the story,” said Robert Penfold, a TV reporter with Australia’s Nine Network.
The 13-year-old jail, five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, has been an all-female facility since March 2006. The two-story concrete building sits in an industrial neighborhood, beside train tracks and beneath a bustling freeway.
Though a judge sentenced her to 45 days behind bars, Hilton is expected to serve only 23 days because of a state law that requires shorter sentences for good behavior, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Once she arrives, the “Simple Life” star will be housed in the jail’s “special needs” unit.
Like other inmates in the special-needs area, Hilton will take her meals in her cell and will be allowed outside the 12-foot-by-8-foot space for at least an hour each day to shower, watch TV in the day room, participate in outdoor recreation or talk on the telephone.
Inmates are not allowed to bring cell phones into the jail.
Besides a decidedly unglamorous orange jumpsuit, inmates are issued a standard-issue kit that includes: a toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, soap, a comb, deodorant, shampoo and shaving implements, along with a jail-issued pencil, stationery, envelopes and stamps.
Officers arrested Hilton in Hollywood on Sept. 7. In January, she pleaded no contest to the reckless-driving charge and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.
She was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol on Jan. 15. Officers informed Hilton she was driving on a suspended license and she signed a document acknowledging she was not to drive. She was pulled over again by sheriff’s deputies Feb. 27 and was charged with violating her probation.