Hilton begins jail term

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Admitting she was frightened, heiress Paris Hilton traded in her Guccis and designer clothes for jail garb on Sunday night as she began serving a 23-day sentence in Los Angeles for violating probation, her attorney said on Sunday.

"Paris Hilton has turned herself in to begin serving her sentence for violating probation at a Los Angeles County Jail located in Lynwood, California," attorney Richard Hutton said in a statement.

It also quoted the 26-year-old hotels heiress as saying: "This is an important point in my life and I need to take responsibility for my actions. In the future, I plan on taking more of an active role in the decisions I make ... Although I am scared, I am ready to begin my jail sentence."

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Hilton was booked at 11:38 p.m. PDT on Sunday (2:38 a.m. EDT/0638 GMT Monday).

Celebrity news site TMZ.com said the surrender was done out of the glare of photographers staking out the Lynwood facility.

It said Hutton picked up at Hilton at her parents' house at 10:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 a.m. British time Monday) , and drove to the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, where she surrendered to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. From there, she was driven to the jail in Lynwood, about 15 miles (24 km) away.

TMZ added that her family went with her to the surrender.

Hilton was due to turn herself in by Tuesday to start serving her term, which already has been cut from 45 days to 23 days under state sentencing guidelines.