“IDOL” FINALIST JESSICA SIERRA SENT TO DRUG TREATMENT
January 08, 2008
Former American Idol finalist Jessica Sierra was sentenced Monday to a yearlong stint at a California rehab facility, along with three years' probation.
Sierra -- who is pregnant with her first child -- has been jailed since Dec. 1, when she was arrested for misdemeanor disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer without violence.
In his sentencing Monday, Judge Daniel Perry of Hillsborough County (Florida) was specific about what he was hoping for from Sierra, 22.
"I don't want this to be some sort of stepping stone for her to have some sort of a career as a recovering addict," Perry said. "I don't want her giving interviews. I don't want her on TV. I don't want anybody glamorizing the fact that she's a drug addict. I'm over that."
Sierra's December arrest stemmed from a probation violation from a separate incident at a Hyde Park nightclub, where she threw a glass at another patron.
The arrest followed Sierra's taping of the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, starring Dr. Drew Pinksy, which is scheduled to premiere at 10 p.m. Thursday. Pinksy was in court Monday on Sierra's behalf and told the judge he gave the troubled singer treatment for three weeks as they taped the show.
"She needs at least a year," Pinsky said. "My opinion is, after that year, her prognosis would be reasonably good."
Outside the courthouse family members said they hoped Sierra had reached rock bottom and would begin her recovery in earnest.
"She's in jail. She's pregnant," said her father, Joseph Sierra. "What else can go wrong?"
