Why was Paris Hilton released?

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PARIS Hilton`s billionaire grandfather donated money to the election campaign of the sheriff who released the 26-year-old from jail, it was revealed yesterday.

The contribution from William Barron Hilton, 78, co-chairman of the Hilton Hotel chain, to Sheriff Lee Baca`s re-election campaign is revealed in financial records and a friend of the Hilton family said the temporary release of the heiress last week may have been a "quid pro quo".

"A member of her family has been a contributor to Baca`s campaign and this may have been payback time," the friend said.

"Her entourage initially were confident she would be out of jail in a few days."

Sheriff Baca, who has faced heavy criticism for attempting to overrule the judge in the case, has in the past been accused of favouritism towards the Hollywood elite.

He was the officer at the centre of a row when he failed to report Mel Gibson`s anti-Semitic tirade after the star was arrested for drink-driving. Gibson had filmed television advertisements for one of Sheriff Baca`s pet causes - an education fund for policemen`s children.

Celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and Dustin Hoffman have also backed the Sheriff`s election campaigns since 1998.

Paris Hilton, sent back to jail for violating probation in a drunken-driving case, will finish her sentence at the medical ward where she ended up after a day of house arrest, celebrity website TMZ.com reported today.

TMZ, citing unnamed sources, said the 26-year-old hotel heiress was eating again, still having trouble sleeping and had received visits from her sister, Nicky, and her sometime boyfriend, Greek shipping scion Stavros Niarchos.

A spokesman for Hilton declined comment on the report, as did officials for the sheriff`s department.

As of Friday, Sheriff Baca said Hilton was scheduled to serve another 18 days behind bars under a standard credit applied against her term for time served on good behaviour.

Hilton, who was dragged sobbing back to jail, says being in prison is the hardest thing she has ever done, but she will not appeal her sentence.

"Today, I told my attorneys not to appeal the judge`s decision," Hilton said in a statement, reported by the Los Angeles Times.

"Being in jail is by far the hardest thing I have ever done," said the 26-year-old heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune who was sentenced to 45 days in jail in May for violating her probation and driving on an suspended licence.

Her early release on Thursday, after just three days in jail, triggered a wave of outrage and an angry judge demanded she be brought back to court on Friday, when he ruled she had to go back to prison.

Images of a dishevelled, distraught Hilton, far from the cool, glamorous blonde seen gracing catwalks and red-carpet soirees, were seen around the world as she was handcuffed by police and brought before Judge Michael Sauer.

"During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to think, and I believe that I am learning and growing from this experience," Hilton said.

Sheriff Lee Baca, had on Thursday released Hilton tagged with an electronic ankle bracelet and ordered her to serve out her sentence under house arrest for unspecified "medical reasons."

Stunned prosecutors filed a petition in protest and on Friday Sauer ordered Hilton back to jail to serve out her sentence.

Hilton apparently broke down, wailing "Mom, Mom, Mom," as Sauer ordered her back to prison saying "the order is final and forthwith."

On Saturday, Hilton was in a Los Angeles jail hospital room, despondent and medicated with a psychotropic drug, TMZ.com reported.

Her psychiatrist spent two hours Saturday with the detainee, whom sources said had been crying, had not eaten, and was sullen and withdrawn, TMZ said.

Hilton was being given psychotropic drugs, the website reported on Saturday, citing law enforcement sources.

She was being held in a room by herself with a glass door that is guarded at all times, the report said.

TMZ also said Hilton was taking psychotropic medication, but did not specify which drug. Psychotropic medications affect a person`s emotions and behaviour and include drugs like lithium, which is taken for depression, and Valium, which eases anxiety.

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the LA County sheriff, declined to comment on the report.

"Anything to do with her medical stuff I can`t confirm or deny," he said.

A rep for Hilton could not immediately be reached for comment.

But in her statement, Hilton thanked her fans for their messages of support which she said she had been reading in her cell, and took a swipe at Friday`s relentless media coverage of the unfolding drama.

"I would hope going forward that the public and the media will focus on more important things, like the men and women serving our country in Iraq and other places around the world."

Ocean`s 13 star George Clooney believes the Simple Life star is a hypocrite for manipulating the press attention to create her current "star" status, only for her whinge about the current media frenzy.

WENN reports Clooney as saying, "You can only get so far without discernable talent - then you either work, or use cheap publicity tricks to keep the public`s attention.

"Paris has no reason to complain if she is on the end of bad publicity."