Prosecutors wanted Lohan to be sent back to jail for six months for violating her probation on a 2007 offense for drunk driving and cocaine possession. But Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Elden Fox ruled she should return to the program that she entered voluntarily three weeks ago, and stay there until Jan 3.
Lohan is currently being treated at the Betty Ford Center in southern California in what is her fifth stint in rehab in three years. "You're staying there past the New Year - there's a reason for that," Fox told Lohan, who cried on hearing his decision.
 "You are an addict. I hope you understand that. I think you have to change your lifestyle," he added, telling the "Mean Girls" actress that if she does not remain clean she would "destroy what is a very lucrative career and profession."
Lohan admitted in September she had tested positive, reportedly for cocaine, in a court-ordered drug screening shortly after being released early from a different rehabilitation program. In August, she served two weeks of a 90-day jail sentence for violating probation in the 2007 case.