Nicole Richie in, out of jail

LOS ANGELES – That was quick.

Nicole Richie spent just 82 minutes behind bars at the Century Regional Detention center Thursday afternoon after she reported to serve a four-day sentence. She had pleaded no contest to driving under the influence charges.

She entered at around 3:15 p.m. and was released around 4:37 p.m. She was supposed to serve 96 hours, and sheriff’s officials have yet to explain why she served so little time. It’s likely, however, she was let out as part of the department’s early-release program to counter overcrowding.

Richie served her time at the same Lynwood county jail where her “The Simple Life” co-star, Paris Hilton, was detained in her probation violation case.

Richie, 25, was arrested in December for driving the wrong way on the freeway in Burbank. California Highway Patrol officers said they found Richie stopped in the carpool lane and that she was the lone occupant of the vehicle. She admitted to officers that she had smoked marijuana and taken the painkiller Vicodin, police said.

In another celebrity case, Lindsay Lohan reached a plea deal Thursday on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges that calls for her to spend one day in jail, serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug treatment program.

She was also placed on 36 months probation, is required to complete an 18-month alcohol education program, pay hundreds of dollars in fines and must complete a three-day county coroner program in which she’ll visit a morgue and talk to victims of drunken drivers.

“It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs,” Lohan said in a statement.