Lindsay Lohan Rejects Plea Deal, Faces Trial

March 24, 2011— -- Lindsay Lohan will take her chances in court.

The actress rejected a plea deal Wednesday related to felony charges that she stole a $2,500 necklace from a Los Angeles jewelry store, planning instead to plead her case at trial.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz offered Lohan a plea deal earlier this month but was clear it would include jail time.

"But if the case settles here, I don't want you under any apprehension, you will be going to jail. Period," Schwartz told Lohan, 24, at a court appearance on Feb. 23.

The details of the plea deal were not disclosed but it likely would have only required a short stint in jail. She now faces the possibility of going to California state prison for as long as three years, if convicted on felony grand theft charges.

"She's really rolling the dice here because she has a locked-in guaranteed good deal," legal analyst Robin Sax said. "She has a set limited amount of time under 60 days in county jail."

But Lohan says she won't admit to something she didn't do and insists the jewelry store, Kamofie & Co., let her borrow the necklace and her assistant returned it to police.

"Ms. Lohan has maintained her innocence from the moment this case was filed and she has never wavered," Lohan's attorney Shawn Holley wrote in a statement released after the plea dea was rejected.

"Though many advised her to follow the safe route by taking 'the deal,' the truth is, Ms. Lohan is innocent; she has a strong defense; and we are confident that a jury will listen to the evidence fairly and acquit her," Holley wrote.

Now that Lohan has rejected the plea deal, she'll be required to appear for a preliminary hearing April 22 to determine whether there is evidence for her to stand trial.

Lohan has already been to jail three times in the past three years for DUI, drug possession and probation violations.