Remember the Bling Ring? That group of Los Angeles-area teenagers who decided they wanted more clothes so they went around breaking into the homes of celebrities? Well, their leader, 21-year-old Rachel Lee was just sentenced to four years in prison for burglarizing Audrina Patridge‘s home.

Rachel is the second member of the group to receive a sentence for her crimes — 20-year-old Alexis Neiers was sentenced to 180 days in jail last year and was released after 30. Over the course of the crime spree, Rachel, Alexis and their cohorts managed to steal more than $3 million worth of stuff from the homes of celebs including Orlando Bloom, Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson, Lindsay Lohan and Brian Austin-Green/Megan Fox.

Four members of the group still await trial: Nicholas Prugo, 20; Diana Tamayo, 21; Courtney Leigh Ames, 20; and Roy Lopez Jr., 29. Just on principle, Roy Lopez Jr. should receive a separate sentence for hanging out with teenagers while being a grown-ip. I’m basically a lawyer here, guys.

Related posts:

• Lifetime’s The Bling Ring: The Highlights Reel
• Bling Ring Burglar Alexis Neiers Reports For Prison
• Bling-Ring Thief Alexis Neiers Sent To Slammer
• Orlando Bloom Testifying In Bling-Ring Case

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• “Bling Ring” cohort Alexis Neiers has been released from prison. Guess the jail couldn’t hold her and Lindsay Lohan on the same cell-block, lest they form a Mean Girls clique and start writing in their burn book about fellow inmates. (E! Online)

• Jennifer Garner rode some horsies with Russell Brand for their upcoming flick, Arthur. They look very much the part of Victorian lovers…hope Ben Affleck and Katy Perry don’t get too jealous. (JustJared)

• True Blood panel at Comic-Con!! But where was Alexander Skarsgard?? (BuzzSugar)

• M. Night Shyamalan told a reporter (and critic of The Last Airbender), “If I thought like you, I’d kill myself.” Is that the twist?! (PopEater)

• And we knew this day would come: Casey Affleck is being sued for sexual harassment by a producer who worked on the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary. (Gossip Cop)

• Eric Roberts joins Jeremy London, Leif Garrett and Janice Dickinson on Celebrity Rehab. (Huffington Post)

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Today, a judge ordered Alexis to spend 180 days in jail and sent her to the same women’s prison in Lynwood, Calif. that housed Paris Hilton in 2007. But we doubt she’ll get the same response when she leaves the jail in six months that Paris got back then. However, we are hoping some of it has been captured on tape for next season of Pretty Wild.

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It looks like the ongoing saga of Alexis Neiers – the celeb-hanger on who stole over $600k of bling from stars like Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, and Lindsay Lohan – has come to an abrupt end. Despite getting a reality show from E! out of the deal (and being told by her lawyer on air that she wouldn’t be taking the rap) the Pretty Wild star will be going to jail for six months. Don’t worry Alexis…we’ve seen Lockdown, and we’re pretty sure they can still keep your show going while you lounge about in minimum security prison.

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(Watch the Good Morning America video)

The suspects are accused of burglarizing a handful of celebrity homes including Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Boom, Rachel Bilson, among others. They are accused of taking almost $3 million in personal items including clothing and jewelry.

Suspect Rachel Lee, 19, pleaded not guilty to three counts of residential burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property on Wednesday.

Suspect Nicholas Prugo, dressed up for a video interview on Good Morning America on Wednesday, where he said the group researched the celebrities on the Internet to find out when they wouldn’t be home. At times both Prugo and Lee have been considered the ring leader.

“I feel really bad for what I did,” Nick Prugo said on Good Morning America Wednesday.

Prugo also pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying he has returned some of the stolen items and is cooperating with the police. Some of the other defendants are calling him a rat.

“They’re going to say what they’re going to say. If me taking responsibility for my crimes and trying to help out the police makes me a rat, then so be it. I’m just trying to make amends and and do right,” Prugo said during his Good Morning America interview.

Prugo blames peer pressure for their actions. The suspects even referred to the burglaries as “going shopping.” Yet he still pleaded not guilty….

“It started out small — cars, just looking at little things. And then it escalated into homes, and then celebrities’ homes, and it became very big, very fast, and I don’t think any of us realized how severe it was until we actually got caught,” said Prugo.

Other suspects who face charges include Courtney Leigh Ames, Diana Tamayo and Alexis Christine Neiers (who is now on a E! reality show that debuts in March called Pretty Wild).

My opinion? One of the suspects is on a reality TV show and I think this is how the suspects see it – as surreal, not a serious situation.

How in the world can Prugo plead not guilty after admitting his part? How do any of them plan to get away with this when they have video? I wonder if they are all banking in making money on selling their stories or the possibility of a “TV movie,” etc.

Prugo even goes so far to say they were burglarizing cars and other things before they even considered celebrity homes? I would say they are repeat offenders that got caught. They didn’t do this just once but several times. I like what the Good Morning America reporter says to Prugo: “In what kind of universe is this okay?”

Also, Prugo is supposedly featured in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, where he talks about the crimes.

Can you believe this baloney? I hope the court doesn’t go easy on these suspects.

Here’s a TMZ video of Lee leaving court Wednesday.

Image: (Bling Ring suspect Rachel Lee leaves a Los Angeles court.) splashnewsonline.com

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Judge Darrell Mavis issued his decision after LAPD officials testified that Neiers admitted entering the actor’s home July 13, and they found stolen items belonging to actresses Rachel Bilson and Lindsay Lohan in her home. The officials also testified another alleged burglar identified her in a security video, the story said.

Lindsay’s home was burglarized in late August.

Neirs’ attorney Susan Morris Haber said her client “lacks intent” because she was intoxicated and did not realize what was happening until it she saw others ransacking the house and then demanded to leave. The judge rejected her argument, the LA Times reported.

LAPD Officer Brett Goodkin testified that another alleged ring member, Nicholas Prugo, 18, identified Neiers as one of four hooded people seen on a security video entering Bloom’s Hollywood Hills home. Prugo has been charged with seven burglaries, the LA Times said.

Among the goods found at Neirs’ home was Lohan’s black-and-white Chanel necklace found in Neirs’ younger sister’s bedroom and Bilson’s Marc Jabobs handbag, Goodkin testified, according to the LA Times.

The two other alleged ring members are Diane Tamayo, 19, and Rachel Lee, 18. Tamayo has been charged in the case. Lee was arrested in Las Vegas but has not been charged.

LAPD Det. Jose Alvarez testified that Neiers admitted being there with Prugo and two other women but claimed that she did not conceal her identity, the story said. Neirs said she thought they were going to the house to recover Lee’s clothing from a friend and that she demanded to be taken home after she became violently ill and vomited outside, Alvarez said, according to the LA Times.

Neirs did admit to helping Prugo remove a large leather bag, Alvarez testified, but said she did not take property.

Goodkin said most of the more than $3 million in stolen items were recovered from Prugo.

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Suspect Jonathan Ajar (knicknamed “Johnny Dangerously” by the police) surrendered to police in Hollywood on Wednesday. (Photo of Ajar on left)

Prosecutors have charged Ajar with 10 felony drug and gun counts after searching his home.

Lindsay’s former Hollywood Hills home was burglarized in late August.

Meanwhile, search warrants documents show that the celebrity burglary ring (being called numerous things including Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch and Bling Ring) made out like bandits stealing everything from gold and silver jewelry, a Cartier watch with diamonds, purses from Marc Jabobs, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, etc.

UPDATE: Added videos

Besides Lindsay Lohan, other celebrities who were burglarized included Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Rachel Bilson, Brian Austin Green, Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom and Ashley Tisdale.

A search of Ajar’s home discovered illegal drugs and several guns. Because Ajar was convicted in 2002 of a federal drug charge, drugs and guns in his possession are prohibited. Ajar is suspected of attempting to sell the stolen goods.

Other suspects in the burglary ring include Alexis Neiers, Diana Tamayo, Courtney Ames, Roy Lopez Jr., Rachel Lee and Nicholas Prugo.

Image: splashnewsonline.com

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