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Paris Hilton was perhaps more famous a decade ago, but she’s still as relevant as ever thanks to her own business ventures. Obviously, her family’s immense wealth had a big part to play in her current lifestyle, but she’s become a businesswoman in her own right.

However, before this new phase in her life, she was well-known for getting herself into trouble. Sometimes, despite being a hotel heiress, she ended up getting some punishment for her crimes. Here’s a look at that time that Paris Hilton got a DUI while driving around in her $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. 

Paris Hilton sitting in the drivers seat of a car
Paris Hilton in new Mercedes Benz SLR MacLaren | Chris Weeks/WireImage

A recap of Paris Hilton’s career

For much of her earlier life, Hilton was a socialite thanks to her work on the reality show The Simple Life, which brought her to the attention of millions of Americans. The show not only made her famous, but when combined with her family’s wealth and connections, allowed her to become a celebrity overnight. 

However, despite earning more roles in TV shows and movies after the success of The Simple Life, she eventually made a pivot to other industries. Not only does she work in the fashion and beauty industry, but she also has a very successful career as a DJ. Thanks to those ventures, currently, she’s worth about $400 million.

Paris Hilton’s many legal issues

But of course, before she became a more serious businesswoman, she had a very rowdy public life. For example, in 2006, CBS News reported that, while driving around in her $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, she got pulled over by the police. They gave her a sobriety test, and she tested above the legal limit. 

CBS News wrote that Hilton “denied driving recklessly,” however, she also said, “Maybe I was speeding a little bit.” A few months later, she pleaded no contest to those charges, according to CBS News, and she was sentenced to 36 months of probation as well as a $1,500 fine. And of course, her license got suspended due to this conviction.

However, Hilton clearly didn’t learn from this, as CBS News later reported that she was caught driving while her license was suspended. This wasn’t a big offense, but she was warned that she could not drive with a suspended license.

Sure enough, she was caught driving once again, and this time, she got sentenced to 45 days in jail for breaking her probation. Her fans didn’t like this, and they started a campaign to free her. After serving a little over half of her sentence, she was released from jail.

The $500,000 Mercedes-Benz

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The car that started this whole chain of events was a pretty rare SLR McLaren. Just over 2,000 of these supercars were built, and they were well worth the high price tag. Car and Driver wrote that they had a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 engine that delivered about 617-hp and 575 lb-ft of torque. 

This powerful engine allowed it to accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH in 3.6 seconds, and it could also hit a top speed of about 208 MPH. The engine was just one of the reasons why it could go so fast.

One of the other reasons was that it used carbon fiber in much of its design. Carbon fiber materials reduced the weight of the car, which allowed it to go faster. Carbon fiber is pretty common nowadays, but back then, it was an expensive luxury. 

And of course, since it was a $500,000 car, Mercedes-Benz gave the SLR a fancy and comfortable interior too. But, since it was 2006, it didn’t have much high-tech stuff going for it in terms of infotainment. 

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