After year of playing good girl, Paris Hilton finishes probation
If Paris Hilton can make it to about 7:30 this morning without getting arrested, her current Las Vegas legal woes will be over.
Barring a midnight malfeasance, the hotel heiress’s one-year probation is up.
So far, the 30-year-old has successfully completed all of the conditions of her sentence stemming from her arrest and conviction for misdemeanor cocaine possession and misdemeanor obstructing an officer, including staying out of trouble.
Defense attorney David Chesnoff said in an email Monday: "As I anticipated, Ms. Hilton fulfilled all obligations to the Court and community ahead of schedule and has remained trouble free during her probation. For the past year she treated the situation with the seriousness that it deserved."
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure ordered Hilton to stay out of trouble for a year, complete a substance abuse program, pay a $2,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.
If she were to be arrested again, Bonaventure warned he would lock up Hilton for a year in the county jail, which "is not the Waldorf-Astoria."
Clark County District Attorney David Roger on Monday said that as long as all of the conditions of her sentence were met, the case would be over.
Hilton is not expected to appear in court today. Last year, Bonaventure gave his permission for her to skip the appearance if she completed all of her requirements. Defense attorneys will be present for her at the 7:30 a.m. hearing.
A lot has changed since Aug. 27, 2010, when Hilton and then-beau, nightclub manager Cy Waits, were busted outside Wynn Las Vegas — him for driving under the influence of marijuana and her for possession of 0.8 grams of cocaine found in her Chanel handbag.
One difference is Hilton and Waits have split. Last month, Waits pleaded no contest to DUI and was fined and was ordered to take classes. Now, the heiress reportedly has been spotted smooching "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips.
Over the past year, Hilton was a mainstay on the Las Vegas club scene after a two-month hiatus following her conviction.
But the Strip has seen a tamer Hilton, said Norm Clarke, the Review-Journal’s "Vegas Confidential" columnist. "We haven’t had any reports of her being out of control or back to wild partying," he said.
One thing that remains unclear is whether Hilton’s banishment from Wynn properties after her arrest — Waits lost his job at Wynn — is still being enforced.
When asked Monday whether the Hilton ban was still in effect, a Wynn spokeswoman responded in an email, "No comment."
If the banishment is over, Clarke hasn’t seen any evidence of it. Hilton has not been seen at either Wynn or Encore.
Still, Hilton has not shied away from Las Vegas in the past year. She appeared several times at nightclubs, usually the Marquee at The Cosmopolitan; attended sporting events including the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight at the MGM Grand and the Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway; and ate meals at STK at the Cosmopolitan and Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. She made a surprise appearance in March at Bartlett Elementary School’s annual Sock Hop fundraiser with Waits.
It wasn’t all fun. In December, Hilton adopted a 3-year-old Chihuahua named Skeet from The Animal Foundation in Las Vegas. Hilton volunteered at the foundation to help fulfill her community service requirements from the cocaine possession charge. She posted on Twitter that the experience of seeing orphaned animals made her cry.
Part of her community service was done in California. In November she painted over graffiti in Hollywood wearing 4-inch heels.
But most importantly for Hilton, December marked her first public appearance after her conviction at a Las Vegas nightclub, Pure at Caesars Palace, dispelling rumors she was banned by all Las Vegas properties, and not just Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
In all, over the past year, both "Paris" and "Hilton" have appeared in Clarke’s column 33 times — but it should be noted that Las Vegas is home to two casino-hotels with those names.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
