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Lohan Rejects Plea Deal In Grand Theft Case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan has rejected a plea agreement offered by prosecutors that included a guaranteed return to jail.

The "Mean Girls" actress appeared briefly in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday morning and told a judge she agreed to delaying her case until a preliminary hearing when prosecutors will present evidence against her.

The case will be set for a preliminary hearing on April 22. But Schwartz also tentatively scheduled a hearing in his court for March 25 -- but he said that hearing would be held only the 24-year-old star was prepared to enter into a plea agreement, which would likely lead to jail time.

Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz had told Lohan he would send her to jail if she accepted a plea bargain offered by prosecutors.

The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Lohan was on probation in January when a Venice jewelry store accused her of taking a $2,500 necklace.

Schwartz also pleaded with attorneys to maintain confidentiality in the case, complaining that there were persistent leaks to media outlets such as the websites TMZ and RadarOnline. He said if a plea agreement was reached -- and filed with the court by Wednesday -- it should be submitted to the court under seal.

Lohan's legal troubles date back to a case stemming from a pair of DUI arrests in May 2007 and July 2007.

She spent 13 days in a Los Angeles County jail last summer for violating her probation in the DUI case by missing multiple classes in a court-ordered alcohol education program.

On Feb. 1, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division obtained a warrant to search Lohan's Venice residence for the necklace, but the jewelry -- described as "one of a kind" -- was turned over to police before the search warrant was served, according to police.

Lohan also faces possible criminal charges for an alleged attack on a worker at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, where she underwent a court- ordered drug rehabilitation program from late September until early January. That case remains under review by the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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