Paris Hilton avoids prison, gets 1-yr suspended sentence

London (ANI): Paris Hilton has been given a one-year, suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to drug possession and obstructing a police officer. A US judge also fined the 29-year-old 2,000 dollars and ordered her to do 200 hours of community service.

Las Vegas police arrested Hilton last mont, after they stopped a car in which she was a passenger and 0.8g of cocaine was found in her purse. She faces a year in jail if she is arrested in Las Vegas in the next year. Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure told the socialite that the purpose of the sentence he handed down was "that you change your conduct".

"The Clark County Detention Center is not the Waldorf-Astoria," the BBC quoted him as saying, referring to the famous hotel in New York where Hilton lived during her childhood and which was once owned by her family. Hilton could have been jailed for up to four years on the cocaine possession charge, but she agreed a plea deal with prosecutors.

Her lawyer, David Chesnoff, told reporters that she would attend an outpatient substance abuse treatment programme. "I know Ms Hilton is contrite and accepts the responsibility for her actions. She was treated like anybody else would be treated under the circumstances," he said.