Frank Micelotta/Getty ImagesAccording to his mom, Nick Hogan went into jail a boy and came out a man. A man who still wants to be a kid, that is.
"He's a changed person," Linda Hogan told local reporters Tuesday in an impromptu press conference outside her Florida home. "He went into prison as a juvenile, and you know he's experienced something that is gonna mold and change him for the rest of his life, for his adult life. He wants to make a positive difference in this world."
Nick, who turned 18 while behind bars, was sprung from a Pinellas County jail at about 12:30 a.m. today after serving 166 days of an eight-month sentence for reckless driving for a DUI crash that left pal John Graziano critically injured and in need of lifelong medical care.
"I cried when I hugged him," Linda said, standing in front of a homemade "Welcome Home" sign and yellow balloons.
"Basically we just feel that we as a family wanna stay private," she continued. "I hope everybody can respect his privacy. He's had six months in jail, and he's just gotta try to regroup and remold his life...In the future, I think his actions will speak louder than words, so really there's not a whole lot else to say.
"I think when people just watch, [they'll see] he's a changed person."
When asked how he's changed, Linda said, "For the better. You know he really just wants to try to be serious and make a difference, wants to look into colleges and just be a kid.”
Nick, meanwhile, spent his first day of freedom with his lawyer, who accompanied him to a meeting with his probation officer and various doctor appointments.
—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum