SOCIALITE GETS 10-MONTH TERM

Tina Schafnitz pleads guilty to drug and weapons charges. She could have
gotten 11 years, but the judge cites her charity work.

Socialite Tina Schafnitz pleaded guilty to cocaine-sale and
handgun-possession charges Tuesday and was sentenced to 10 months in jail,
an abrupt conclusion to a case that startled Newport Beach social circles.

"I'am very sorry," Schafnitz, 38, said outside court in Santa Ana, adding
that she hopes to resume her charity work for abused and neglected children
after she serves her sentence. She also complained that she was "set up" by
police.

Central Orange County Municipal Court Judge Steven L. Perk could have
sentenced Schafnitz to more than 11 years in state prison. He cited her
lack of a criminal record and close ties to the community.

The judge fined Schafnitz $5,000 and ordered three years of formal
probation, as well as drug and alcohol treatment if deemed necessary by her
probation officer. She was ordered to report to Orange County Jail on April
28.

Deputy District Attorney Joe Nedza had urged Perk to sentence Schafnitz to
state prison, noting that she had a .38-caliber handgun in her Mercedes
when she was arrested March 16 outside a Tustin restaurant for selling 16
grams of cocaine.

"I think it's a state prison case, personally. But the court had a
different opinion," Nedza said.

Defense attorney Robert Newman said he did not believe Schafnitz received
preferential treatment, although her extensive charity work was a factor in
her favor. Schafnitz may ask to serve her time in a private city jail,
where prisoners pay for a cleaner, safer setting.

Matt Schafnitz said after the sentencing that cocaine had turned his wife,
who is in a rehabilitation program, into "a different woman than the one I
married."

"I hope the treatment works," he said.