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Jailbird Paris blames Publicist


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Paris Hilton Says Jail Term Cruel, Fires Publicist

"I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't deserve this," said Paris.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In her first public comments since she was handed a 45-day jail sentence for a driving related offense, celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has described her punishment as cruel and unwarranted.

She also fired her spokesman, veteran publicist Elliot Mintz, whom she blamed for getting her into the mess.

Visibly shocked and tearful, the 26-year-old socialite was sentenced to 45 days in a suburban Los Angeles jail after a judge ruled she knowingly violated her probation on a previous traffic offense by driving without a valid license.

At the hearing, Hilton said Mintz had told her she was permitted to drive for work-related reasons. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer rejected her claims and ordered her to turn herself in by June 5.

"I told the truth," Hilton told photographers waiting outside her Los Angeles home on Saturday night.

"I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't deserve this."

Her lawyer, Howard Weitzman, has said he will appeal "to modify the sentence."

Mintz, whose clients have included John Lennon and Bob Dylan, took the stand in Hilton's defense, but his testimony was rejected as worthless by the judge.

In a statement published on Sunday by news web site TMZ.com, Mintz was said he was "deeply and profoundly sorry" for giving his client bad advice.

"Due to this misunderstanding, I am no longer representing Paris. For the record, I have nothing but love and respect for Paris and her family. Paris is a wonderful person and does not deserve the punishment that was handed down by the court. I only wish her my best."

Superior Court judge Michael Sauer said he believed the 26-year-old reality TV star knowingly disobeyed the law by driving while her license was suspended and ordered her to report to jail on June 5.

"I think she has wanted to disregard everything that was said and continued to drive no matter what," Sauer before passing sentence.

He added, "The probation is revoked. Forty-five days in jail."

Sauer made the decision after a two-hour hearing during which Hilton insisted she was unaware that her driving privileges had been suspended when she was pulled over for driving without headlights on February 27.

Hilton said her publicist Elliott Mintz had told her she was permitted to drive for work-related reasons.

"I did not want to break the law," she told the judge "I did what I was told. I would never drive just because I want to. I follow the law and I respect the law. From now on I want to pay complete attention to everything."

"I just want to say I'm sorry," she said before being sentenced.

But the judge said he did not believe Hilton was ignorant of her driving restrictions saying she had "completely ignored" a notice given to her by a police officer that she had signed during an earlier traffic stop in January notifying her that her license was suspended.

After sentence was imposed, Hilton's mother Kathy yelled at a prosecutor "you're pathetic."

The socialite's attorney, Howard Weitzman, said she was singled out for being a celebrity.

"To sentence Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail is inappropriate and borders on ludicrous. It is clear that she has been selectively targeted for prosecution for who she is.

"I think she was honest in her testimony. We do intend to appeal to the judge and to a higher court to modify the sentence."

Hilton was placed on three years probation earlier this year for pleading no contest -- the equivalent of a guilty plea -- to alcohol-related reckless driving after a September 2006 arrest in Hollywood.

She landed in hot water again in late February, when she was pulled over on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood for driving without headlights. Police impounded her car, a $190,000 blue Bentley, when they discovered she was driving on a suspended license.

Hilton's latest legal problems come a little more than three weeks before her reality TV show, "The Simple Life," co-starring her friend Nicole Richie," returns to the airwaves for a fifth season. The series has already been taped.

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Two sentences stand out in this story.

Paris' statement:

"From now on I want to pay complete attention to everything." (I guess intead of ignoring everything ...)

"The socialite's attorney, Howard Weitzman, said she was singled out for being a celebrity." (Aren't there laws making it illegal to lie in court?)

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Who cares what her publicist told her.....anyone who ever got a license should know that if it's suspended or revoked, you CANNOT drive. We common people would have it harder because we'd have to rely on someone else to drive us or take the bus. She could hire a chauffeur for a few months. I don't feel sorry for her at all.

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Paris should thank her lucky stars she wasn't caught in Japan : first offence - 2 years suspension ; 1 if you are just barely over and seem sypathetic to the judge . To bugger up such a short sentence is deserving of jail-time . Infact , I'd take the 45 days in jail over 2 years of suspension without blinking .

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