$85-a-night jail a hit with L.A.'s celebrity convicts

LOS ANGELES - For well-heeled convicts sentenced to jail for relatively minor crimes, a cell at one of a handful of Southern California city jails is just a fistful of cash away - and Glendale's facility is gaining a reputation as an oasis.

At $85 a day, demand has surged for the jail's pay-to-stay program after errant celebrities Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Collins recently picked the site to bunk down in.

While Sutherland, 41, star of "24," was released last week, and Collins, 69, a veteran of countless TV shows, also is gone, the jail has been flooded with calls.

"After Kiefer and Gary, we got inundated with calls, so we actually have people lined up through the summer," said jail administrator Juan Lopez, who noted more than a dozen inmates are now signed up.

"We'll have to set up plaques that say 'Kiefer slept here' or 'Gary ate here."'