SOCIALITE CHARGED WITH COCAINE SALE

Tina Schafnitz, a well known fund raiser, is accused of trying to peddle
$1,000 worth of the drug.

A socialite with a million-dollar Harbor Ridge home and a penchant for
high-priced couture-a woman with more than 200 pairs of shoes-drives to a
Tustin El Torito parking lot in her black Mercedes-Benz to peddle $1,000
worth of cocaine to an undercover officer.

In Orange County social circles Friday, the question on everyone's lips
was: Why?

Tina Schafnitz, 38, a fixture in the society columns who raised hundreds of
thousands of dollars to help abused and neglected children, was charged
Friday with selling and possessing cocaine.

In an interview Friday, she denied the charges and said she was set up by a
friend.

"I'm totally blown away," said Antonio Cagnolo, the owner of Antonello's
Restaurant in Santa Ana and the godfather of the woman's two sons. "I'm
totally beside myself. Something is definitely wrong here, because Tina
doesn't need the money, I can tell you that."

Carl Armbrust, Orange County's top drug prosecutor, said the charges could
carry a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison if Schafnitz is
convicted. Police also found an unloaded firearm in the trunk of her car.

The penalty "goes up fast" if you have a gun. Armbrust said. Armbrust said
his office will contend that the weapon was available to the woman to use
on police.

Schafnitz reportedly is going through a recovery program at an undisclosed
rehabilitation center.

Schafnitz, who had aspired to be an actress, once used her acting skills to
help train an undercover police officer on how to act less like a police
officer, said Newport Beach police Lt. Richard Long.

As far as her acting career went, though, Schafnitz, a model, so far had
succeeded in getting a few walk-on parts on soap operas.

But this was no soap.

"My heart dropped," Schafnitz recalled of the moment when two undercover
police officers swooped down and arrested her March 16.

Tustin police said the drug bust was part of an ongoing, pre planned
investigation. They would not elaborate on how Schafnitz was targeted.

"This was not the type of case where she happened to have a little bit of
drugs in the car," said Tusting Lt. Mike Shanahan. "It was part of a
deliberate effort on our part to arrest her."

He said the amount of the deal is much more than what a recreational drug
user would have. Shanahan explained that one tenth of a gram is considered
a "line" of cocaine.

Schafnitz was arrested with Marilyn Scott, 42, a Cost Mesa woman who was
described as a friend. She was detained by police for questioning and
released.

People who know Schafnitz well said they were aware she might be using drugs.

Adrienne Brennan, once a close friend, said she hasn't been close for three
years because, "It was apparent that she had a problem.
Tina had lost
touch with her friends on the social scene, and most of her new friends
were her druggie friends. I', glad she's getting help."

One friend said Schafnitz's relatives and friends recently attempted to
confront her about her alleged drug use in an "intervention."

But most said the news of her arrest caught them by surprise. Until as
recently as six months ago, Schafnitz's star was among the brightest at
charity affairs.

Flitting about in her trademark hot pants, red leather dresses and cat
suits and owning more than 40 pairs of cowboy boots, Schafnitz was not
afraid to be flamboyant. She was the first in the conga line at charity
balls. She helped run a lingerie show for the Ritz Bros., a charity group
at the Ritz restaurant.

Schafnitz and her husband, Matt, an insurance magnate 16 years her senior,
have given generously of their time and money, opening up their wine cellar
for charity parties at their home and donating to such causes as Children's
Hospital of Orange County, Childhelp, Opera Pacific and cystic fibrosis.

Her husband could not be reached for comment.

Perhaps their greatest focus has been on the Short Stature Foundation, a
group they supported generously after their son, Alexandre, was born with
dwarfism in 1990.

When attending certain functions, Schafnitz sometimes wore her Mrs. America
Globe banner, an acquaintance said, because she was very proud of having
won the crown in 1996. She also said once that she had placed in at least
five beauty pageants, including being named Miss Teenage California and
placing second in the Miss Newport Beach competition.

Blessed with comely genes (her father danced with Pavlova, she said, and
her mother was an original Liquinet hair-spray girl), Schafnitz said her
modeling career included a spread in Vogue.

She owned a Rolls-Royce, and then a red Ferrari - both gifts from a husband
said to adore her.

She and her husband often dressed in matching colors. When he proposed, he
sent her a dozen long-stemmed Sterling roses every hour for eight hours.

"People called me an unguided missile," she said in a 1989 interview. "With
Matt, I got a little direction."

But some friends said Friday that the relationship was strained - and
neighbors said both had moved out of the Harbor Ridge home.

The news of the arrest spread quickly among the county's social set Friday.

"Everyone is shocked, because she seemed to have everything," said Gloria
Osbrink, who worked with Schafnitz on some of her charities. "Everywhere I
went today, from the beauty, shop to Big Canyon Country Club, it's what
everybody was talking about."

Mary Ann Miller said some people are worrying that their organization will
be tainted, because Schafnitz was such a strong presence in raising funds
for so many groups.

"My God, she was high-profile," Miller said. "People are saying: 'Oh, God,
what if they mention our group?' For sure, people will distance themselves,
because they're afraid it's going to rub off on them."

Others said they will support her no matter what happens.

"We must not forget what's she's done for the community and for the
children," said Lana Chandler, a Corona Del Mar volunteer who worked with
Schafnitz on charity projects. "She's probably just going through a general
life crisis. We never know what a person's life struggles are. We never
know what they go through. Only they know that."