I speculated last week that it smelled as if Sheriff Baca, who released Paris Hilton early from jail, must have been paid off or received some cash in an apple pie during a visit from a Hilton relative. Turns out that is actually true but the payoff took place before Hilton was put in the jail….and even before she committed the crime. It was made by Barron Hilton to Baca’s re-election campaign last year.

Paris Hilton’s billionaire grandfather donated money last year to the sheriff who released the 26-year-old heiress from jail.

William Barron Hilton, 78, co-chairman of the Hilton Hotel chain, made a contribution of around £500 to Sheriff Lee Baca’s re-election campaign - the maximum allowed by law - according to financial records.

The Mail on Sunday examined the returns after a friend of the Hilton family claimed Paris’s release may have been a ‘quid pro quo’.

This would not be the first time that Baca has played favorites with celebrities from Hollywood.

Sheriff Baca has been accused of favouritism towards the Hollywood elite in the past.

Celebrities including Sylvester Stallone and Dustin Hoffman have backed his election campaigns since 1998.

Last summer, Sheriff Baca was at the centre of a row when he failed to report Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade after he was arrested for drink-driving.

Gibson had filmed TV adverts for one of Sheriff Baca’s pet causes - an education fund for policemen’s children.

Even Baca’s contemporaries seemed to think the release smelled of apple pie.

Steve Remige, president of the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents 9,000 deputies, said: “Outward appearances seem to be that the sheriff does lean toward favouritism of the rich and famous.”

The socialite, the letter-of-the-law judge, and crooked sheriff…..sounds like a good movie or either an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.