A rollercoaster day for LiLo

Troubled star Lindsay Lohan was ordered to jail for 120 days for violating her probation by allegedly stealing a necklace, but was later released on bail.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner also reduced the charge from a felony grand theft to a misdemeanour.

The court ruled on Friday that the ‘Mean Girls' star violated her 2007 drunk-driving probation by wearing a gold chain out of a Venice jewellery store Kamofie & Co in January and failing to return it until the police got involved, reported Los Angeles Times.

Besides 120 days in jail, Judge Sautner gave her 480 hours of community service. The 24-year-old actress was led out of the Airport Courthouse after an afternoon of testimony.

Defence attorney Shawn Chapman Holley immediately sought to post the $75,000-bail and filed an appeal of Judge Sautner's decision.

Ms. Lohan was processed at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood late on Friday and was released on bail shortly after 9 p.m., said authorities.

The actress will remain free until her June 3 trial but is required to begin her community service by working 120 hours at the Los Angeles County morgue and 360 hours at the Downtown Women's Shelter on skid row, the judge ruled.

Judge Sautner said the assignments would give Ms. Lohan a real-life look at “how truly needy women and women who have fallen on real hard times have to live”.

It was the fourth time Ms. Lohan was sentenced to jail — she spent a few hours twice and 14 days on a 90-day sentence last summer.

Lindsay Lohan: To Jail and Back Again, Part Deux

In court Friday for a preliminary hearing on allegations she stole a $2,500 necklace from an L.A. boutique in January, Lindsay Lohan ended up sentenced to 120 days in jail, and back behind bars for five hours, for violating her probation. Lohan's lawyers plan to appeal the jail sentence, but the actress must immediately start serving 480 hours of community service. Judge Stephanie Sautner did not buy the defense argument that Lohan absentmindedly walked out of the Venice jewelry store wearing the necklace and forgot to return it. The actress did catch a break when Sautner downgraded the charges from felony grand theft to a misdemeanor, a decision that prosecutors plan to appeal. The actress's hearing on the theft charges is set for May 11.

 Before court adjourned, prosecutors argued that Lohan should be jailed for violating her probation, and the judge agreed. Taken into custody immediately, the actress reportedly showed "no emotion" as sheriff's deputies 'cuffed her and took her onto a bus bound for the Lynwood Correctional Facility, a routine that's practically old hat by now. After spending a grand total of five hours behind bars, the actress was let out on $75,000 bail. Meanwhile, Judge Sautner sounded almost impressed with Lohan's proclivity for trouble. "[The necklace] was in fact hidden in plain sight and she walked out of the store," Sautner said. "It's brazenness ... it's ... I don't know what it is."

Lindsay Lohan gets extension -- next date, March 25

Lindsay Lohan did not strike a deal with prosecutors who are preparing a case against her for felony grand theft of a designer diamond necklace, but a Los Angeles judge gave the actress more time to decide her plea, setting an interim court date of March 25. Prosecutors and Lohan’s lawyer can continue to work on a plea bargain in the meantime, but Lohan will need to be in court on March 25 if she intends to plead guilty or no contest and accept the parameters of the court’s offer. If she decides to plead not guilty, an April 22 court date has already been set that will hear the felony grand theft case, as well as charges that Lohan has violated conditions of her probation.

Lohan has denied stealing the necklace from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store. The court expects Lohan to inform it of her intentions by March 23.