Lohan begins stint under house arrest

Actress Lindsay Lohan turned herself in to Los Angeles jail authorities early on Thursday and has begun serving a sentence for jewellery theft under house arrest, officials said. Lohan, 24, turned up at a Los Angeles jail at 5:00 am on Thursday (local time), according to official records. Los Angeles Sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore told People magazine she was deemed eligible for home confinement, fitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and released to her home within an hour.

"She is now confined to the interior premises of her home at all times," Mr Whitmore told People. Lohan's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. The Mean Girls actress was sentenced two weeks ago to four months in jail and 480 hours of community service after pleading no contest to stealing a $US2,500 gold necklace from a shop in January. It was not immediately clear how much time she would be confined to house arrest. But Mr Whitmore said earlier this month she would likely serve 16-17 days at home under programs for non-violent offenders, good behaviour and because of overcrowding in the city's jails. Lohan has already started her community service at a women's jail. Lohan has been in and out of jail and drug and alcohol rehab for the past four years following a 2007 arrest for drunken driving and cocaine possession. Her troubles have derailed her once-promising Hollywood career, but she was cast in April in an upcoming movie about New York crime boss John Gotti, alongside actors Al Pacino and John Travolta.

Lohan to Leno: I'll be back with an Oscar!

Lindsay Lohan, whose career has been derailed by drunken driving convictions, probation violations and a shoplifting charge, admitted in an interview with talk show host Jay Leno to "poor decisions in the past" -- but predicted an Oscar is in her future.

Lohan, in a "Tonight Show" interview taped Monday and broadcast Tuesday, said she's "willing to do the work that I have to do to follow through with being an actress."

She hopes to be back on Leno's show in a few years with an Oscar, Lohan said.

"I've made a lot of mistakes and I've recognized that, but I'm in the clear now and I feel like as long as I stay focused then I will be able to, you know, achieve what I want to be able to achieve," Lohan told the NBC show's host.

When Leno asked what one thing she would like to change about herself, Lohan said it would be the public perception of her.

"I want the public knowledge to be about my work, not about things that I didn't get into this business for, that I've put myself into positions where that was the bigger story than what I was working on," she said.

Lohan, 24, said she's been cast to play mobster John "Junior" Gotti's wife in a movie, but a 120-day jail sentence and several months of community service for a probation violation threatens to keep her out of the movie. It starts shooting in October.

She is also scheduled to go on trial in June for allegedly stealing a gold and diamond necklace from a Venice, California, jewelry store. If convicted, Lohan could face up to a year in jail.

The 13 days she spent in a Los Angeles jail last summer "was an interesting experience and it was definitely a wake-up call," Lohan said. "And I think when it happened, everything happens for a reason. I don't know exactly what will happen."

Her latest legal setback came Friday when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner ruled that Lohan violated her probation on two 2007 drunken driving convictions by being arrested for the necklace theft.

Lohan said she was "kind of numb" when Sautner sentenced her to 120 days in jail and 480 hours of community service.

"I was kind of shocked, I didn't really expect the outcome to be what it was, but I'm a big girl and I'm going to do what I'm told to do, continue on with working in my life and I'm taking responsibility," she said.

The actress has admitted a drug addiction in the past, and she's spent at least eight months in substance abuse rehab in the last four years.

She blamed her youth on her bad choices.

"Being young and being in a position that I was in, you don't really take the time to appreciate what you have, and it's all kind of a whirlwind and people make decisions for you," she said. "But I'm not a kid anymore."

Lohan's most optimistic statement came when Leno asked where she sees herself when she turns 30 -- six years from now.

"Hopefully, sitting here after winning an Oscar," Lohan said.

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."