Paris Hilton in Los Angeles jail

Lynwood, California: Paris Hilton has reported to a Los Angeles county jail to begin a three-week stay for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. The 26-year-old heiress was booked late on Sunday into the Century regional detention facility in an industrial area about five miles (eight km) southeast of central Los Angeles, according to the sheriff's inmate locator web site.

Though a judge sentenced her to 45 days behind bars, Hilton was expected to serve only 23 days because of a state law that requires shorter sentences for good behaviour.

Earlier on Sunday, Hilton attended the MTV Movie Awards, where she briefly spoke to reporters about her sentence.

"I am trying to be strong right now," Hilton said. "I'm really scared but I'm ready to face my sentence."

The 13-year-old jail has been an all-female facility since March 2006. The concrete building sits in an industrial neighbourhood, beside train tracks and beneath a bustling freeway.

Hilton will be housed in the facility's "special needs" unit. Officers arrested Hilton in Hollywood on September 7. In January, she pleaded no contest to the reckless-driving charge and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

She was pulled over by California highway patrol on January 15.