House Arrest

A federal judge in New York on Thursday gave a harsh review of the television antics of the son of a former organized crime boss as she sentenced him to a year and a day in prison, saying he earned his prison time with a big blunder: acting work that disrespected the court system. U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald told Christopher Colombo, son of the late Joe Colombo, that she was not entertained by his appearances on the HBO show "House Arrest," on which he was seen cavorting with topless dancers, visiting posh restaurants and trying to break into a church while he was awaiting trial.

The owner of a Hollywood apartment complex will begin serving 45 days of court-ordered house arrest Friday for failing to repair what city officials said are slum conditions in her building. Hasna M. Bashara, 57, of Hollywood was ordered by a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge to wear an electronic monitoring device and stay around the clock in the 20-unit building at 642 N. Plymouth Blvd. through March 23. Deputy City Atty. Michael R.

"Cheers" television star Kelsey Grammer pleaded no contest today to a felony cocaine possession charge, and a judge immediately ordered him placed under "house arrest" for 90 days. Under the arrangement, an electronic surveillance device allows authorities to monitor his whereabouts. He will be permitted to continue his role as the pompous psychiatrist Frasier Crane on "Cheers." Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James M.

A novel 1985 sentence ordering neurosurgeon Milton Avol of Beverly Hills to spend 30 days in jail and 30 days under "house arrest" in one of his run-down buildings has been upheld by an appeals court.

Suspended New York Yankee outfielder Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to two years' house arrest Tuesday after admitting he violated probation by driving under the influence of medication and by leaving the scene of an accident. Strawberry, who is fighting the spread of colon cancer, apologized during a brief hearing before Judge Florence Foster for causing a Monday morning traffic accident in Tampa, Fla.

Anna Deavere Smith's "House Arrest" was recently produced at the Mark Taper Forum. I say produced in spite of Smith's disclaimer that this piece is "a work in progress." Any play presented with the actors paid, choreography staged and the theater's publicity machine in high gear is produced, and should be open for review and criticism. The publicity included two feature articles in the Los Angeles Times, which read more like press releases than true criticism.

Sherry Johnston is back in her Wasilla home after a judge agreed to let her serve her three-year sentence with an ankle-monitoring device, according to her attorney. Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the father of former Gov. Sarah Palin's grandson, Tripp. She was sentenced last month to jail, to be followed by three years' probation, for dealing the prescription painkiller OxyContin. She had been jailed at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, Alaska, since August.

In a twist that could signal the collapse of a sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a judge Friday lifted his house arrest and bail after prosecutors admitted a "substantial credibility issue" against the hotel maid who accused him of trying to rape her. Among other things, the woman lied on her asylum application about having been gang-raped in the past and repeated the lie in interviews with attorneys from the...

A federal magistrate ordered the release on home detention Tuesday of a Syrian-born U.S. citizen the FBI says has been spying on Syrian dissidents in the United States with intentions of harming them, saying that the prosecution had not established that he had committed a crime. U.S. Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones Jr. said that the prosecution had proved only that Mohamad "Alex" Soueid had filmed protests and shared the films with Syrian government officials, which is not illegal, and that he did not seem to be a threat to flee.

Angry with paparazzi photos that appear to show Lindsay Lohan partying on the rooftop of her beachfront Venice home, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner told the actress she can no longer entertain more than one guest at a time while under house arrest. Lohan was in court Thursday after a probation report said she had failed a June 13 alcohol test, but Sautner ruled that a failed alcohol test did not violate her probation and that the testing requirement had ended months earlier.