Lindsay Lohan close to deal on lying-to-cops charge, sources say

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Lindsay Lohan’s lawyer is close to making a plea deal that would keep her out of jail on a charge she lied to police when she allegedly said she wasn’t driving a Porsche during a crash on Pacific Coast Highway.

Santa Monica city prosecutor Terry White and Lohan attorney Mark Heller are close to formalizing a plea to send her to rehab, community service and extensive therapy to resolve the misdemeanor criminal charge, according to several sources.

Although the L.A. city attorney’s office wants Lohan to go back to jail for violating probation for a jewelry theft in 2011, according to sources, it is allowing White to take the lead.

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The prospect of a plea comes as law enforcement sources say a bottle of alcohol was found near the car at the scene of the PCH crash but not tied to Lohan on the case.

In a letter to prosecutors, Heller has offered to have Lohan participate in intense therapy, regular screenings and offer inspirational speeches to schools, hospitals and other groups while establishing a nonprofit foundation for youth.

In recent years, Lohan has made more court appearances than movies. Nearly six years ago, she was arrested for drunk driving in Los Angeles and was subsequently convicted. She repeatedly violated the terms of that probation, going to jail for short periods of time, as well as rehab.

In 2011, she was convicted of another misdemeanor, this time shoplifting a necklace from a Venice jewelry store. After Lohan missed required therapy sessions and community service shifts at a downtown women’s center, the judge got tough. Knowing that jail overcrowding would result in Lohan serving just a few days if she were sent there, the judge sentenced her to 360 hours of labor at the county coroner’s office.

Lohan completed the requirements last year, winning praise from the judge, who ended Lohan’s drunk-driving probation.

But then came the traffic accident last summer on Pacific Coast Highway and new charges.

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-- Richard Winton