Nicole Ritchie is always going to be Paris Hilton’s bitch.� Just weeks after Hilton’s paparazzi surge over her prison sentence, Ritchie was quietly sentenced to four days in prison for driving the wrong way on the freeway and driving under the influence. No helicopters buzzed overhead, and only a handful of photographers and entertainment reporters showed up to hear the verdict. Ritchie’s Simple Life clearly doesn’t gauge the same amount of coverage as her heiress BFF.

Ritchie will also have to pay $2,048 in fines and attend a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

“She’s not gonna be coming in here wearing a miniskirt and pumps,” Burbank police Sgt. Thor Merich said. “We pretty much go the bare minimum.”

Prosecutors said Richie will serve the time in a city jail rather than a county lockup.� On Friday, Ritchie, sporting her best Jackie-O outfit, pled guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court on the charge of driving under the influence of drugs. A prearranged deal with the District Attorney’s office allowed her to avoid a yearlong jail sentence since this is her second DUI conviction.

Superior Court Commissioner Kevin K. Lubell gave Ritchie quite a smackdown in court and warned her that if she failed to show up for her four day incarceration, he would impose the full weight of the sentence and send her to jail for upwards of a year.

“You are lucky that the wrong-way escapade did not kill or maim someone.” Said Lubell. “What you did was pretty scary. You could face a murder charge if she continues to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol and someone dies.

“I hope that never, ever happens. The court does not want anything to happen to you.”

Nicole arrived and left court with her boyfriend, Joel Madden, who is rumored to be the father of the baby Ritchie is allegedly expecting. Lionel Richie’s offspring listened to everything Lubell had to say, but declined to comment.

This isn’t the first time that Nicole got nabbed for driving under the influence of drugs. She in fact faced a similar charge four years ago when cops searched her car and found balloons of heroin in the glove compartment.

Laying low in recent weeks as her baby bump gets larger and boyfriend Joel Madden travels on the Good Charlotte tour, Nicole will soon break her silence in an exclusive interview. Somehow even with all the media interest in her pregnancy Richie avoided the paps - perhaps Britney could learn a thing or two about keeping a low profile. Nicole has chosen Diane Sawyer to host the tell-all on August 2nd. The three-part expose will air on Good Morning America and 20/20, sucking all of the ratings they possibly can from the star. Diane Sawyer seems better suited to cover the story of a socialite gone bad than Larry King who interviewed Paris after her release from jail. A semi-embarrassment to resident CNN news anchors like Anderson Cooper, Hilton had the world media unwillingly buzzing over her sentence.

Ritchie must serve her four days before September 28th. She has to report back to court on February 20, 2008 and prove that she has served her four days, paid her fine and completed drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

“You are not to drive with any measurable amount of alcohol or drugs in your system,” Lubell told her. “You are not to drive without a driver’s license.”

He left it to the Department of Motor Vehicles would decide whether to suspend her license.

She joins a long list of twenty-something Hollywood party girls in trouble with the law. Her best friend, Paris Hilton recently did time, and another clubbing buddy, Lindsay Lohan faces 180 days in jail for driving under the influence and felony drug possession.
Too bad they all couldn’t have served together. Just think of the reality show possibilities.

-Linda Przygodski & Theresa Bennett