Expert: Jail Time, Rehab 'Best Thing' for Lohan

July 19, 2010 — -- As Lindsay Lohan reportedly spends time at lawyer Robert Shapiro's rehabilitation center and prepares to enter prison, an addiction expert said today that jail time and rehab could help the starlet take a turn for the better.

"It's the best thing that can happen to Lindsay because frankly, she's running out of options," William Moyers, vice president of the Hazelden Foundation, told "Good Morning America." "She should have as much opportunity to recover as anyone else, but often times for people it's the consequences which include jail time that allows them to wake up and take that personal responsibility to live a life of recovery."

For better or worse, celebrities are no strangers to stretches behind bars.

Starlet Nicole Richie battled a heroin addition before she was sentenced to four days in jail. Though she only served 82 minutes, Richie bounced back by starting a family and launching a clothing line.

Charlie Sheen's acting career has been coupled with decades of substance abuse and several stints in rehab. But even after years of treatment, Sheen spent this past Christmas in jail for assaulting his wife. He's also currently awaiting sentencing and could face several years in prison.

Paris Hilton famously served 23 days in jail in the summer of 2007 following a DUI conviction and driving with a suspended license. Three years later, Hilton is reportedly back in trouble with the law after she was detained and then released on the French island of Corsica this weekend accused of marijuana possession, according to French newspaper Corse Matin.

"Lindsay's jail sentence will be very similar to where Paris Hilton went," US Weekly senior editor Ian Drew said. "She will have a very sanitary living condition. It will be very white washed, very simple, very plain."

Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail in addition to 90 days of in-patient rehab in early July for violation of a 2007 probation she incurred after a DUI conviction.

Former O.J. Simpson Lawyer Robert Shapiro Enters the Fray

Following the news that Lohan hired Robert Shapiro, the famed lawyer from the O.J. Simpson case, reports say she has checked into the Pickford Lofts, an inpatient sober-living facility Shapiro opened after his son Brent died of a drug overdose.

In a statement, Shapiro said he "agreed to represent Ms. Lohan on the condition that she complies with all of the terms of her probation, including a requirement of jail time."

In the rehabilitation facility, Shapiro plans to implement "a treatment approach recommended by medical professionals for Ms. Lohan's long term recovery and sobriety," the statement said.

Lohan's father, Michael Lohan, told ABCNews.com he's been pushing for rehab for his daughter for a long time.

"For months, we have been begging Lindsay to enter rehab, for her own health, and to avoid incarceration," he said in a statement sent to ABCNews.com by his attorney Lisa Bloom last week. "We are pleased that at last she appears to have done so. As we have written in several letters to the court, Lindsay belongs in rehab, not in jail."

"We hope that Lindsay gets off all prescription medication as well as any other substances that may be damaging her," the statement continued. "Michael Lohan is willing to attend any family therapy with Lindsay and other family members in an effort to help her fully heal. Michael loves his daughter unconditionally. He wants her to live. He stands ready, willing and able to help her in any way he can."

Michael Lohan has said he believes his daughter is addicted to prescription drugs. A recently-released probation report showed that Lohan was taking several medications, all with valid prescriptions: Dilaudid (a painkiller used for Lohan's dental discomfort, according to the document), Adderall (for attention deficit disorder ), Zoloft (for anxiety), Trazadone (for depression) and Nexium (for heartburn).

Shapiro was a member, with the late Johnnie Cochran, of O.J. Simpson's "dream team" of lawyers. They successfully defended the Hall of Famer against charges that he murdered his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.