Lindsay Lohan all but rejected a plea agreement on Thursday that prosecutors promised would include jail, but Judge Keith Schwartz decided to give the troubled actress another two weeks to
reconsider before officially sending her to another judge and a new trial for felony grand theft.
"If you and your counsel do not accept the plea deal, then you do not have to return to this court," Judge Schwartz told Lohan during the brief hearing. If she rejects the prosecutors on March 25, then a preliminary hearing will take place on April 22 with Judge Stephanie Sautner at the helm.
The exact terms of the plea deal were not disclosed, but Lohan was on probation in January when a Venice jewelry store accused her of taking a $2,500 necklace. She pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Judge Schwartz made it clear during their last meeting, on Feb. 23, that "this case does involve jail time" if she pleads guilty. But on Wednesday, RadarOnline.com reported that Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, was insisting on a plea deal with no jail time.
The judge said he would sentence her to a minimum of 60 days, but likely no longer than 90 days. He "encouraged Holly to discuss what not taking the plea deal will mean for her."
Lohan was officially charged during a hearing on Feb. 9. After pleading not guilty, Judge Schwartz lanced into the actress for not taking the charges seriously. "If you violate the law again, I will remand you with no bail," he told her. "Things will be different."
If this goes to trial and she is convicted, Lohan could be sent to a California state prison with a maximum sentence of three years behind bars.
The actress, who remains on probation in a 2007 drunken driving case, is accused of taking a necklace from Kamofie & Co. of Venice Beach, Calif., on Jan. 22, roughly three weeks after the actress was released from three months of court-ordered rehab at the Betty Ford Center.
A police report was filed the day of the incident, and authorities reportedly waited until she was photographed wearing the necklace before deciding to pursue charges. A friend of the actress turned the necklace in to the Pacific Division of the LAPD on Feb. 2.
Lohan's lawyer has denied the charges, and the actress claims that the necklace was loaned to her -- and that, unbeknownst to LiLo, her stylist simply forgot to return it in time. The star's dad, Michael Lohan, told PopEater at the time that the entire incident was as a "ridiculous" misunderstanding
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