Miss Maryland USA Busted

Miss Maryland USA Busted
for Drugs


Sherri Ly
GERMANTOWN,Md. - Life has certainly changed for a Maryland beauty queen, now busted on drug charges. Police arrested Tia Shorts, Miss Maryland USA 2004, on Wednesday at her home in Germantown.

Police say she and her boyfriend were dealing drugs from their apartment. She's now charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.

"I guess something must have gone wrong, or I mean obviously we didn't know what was going on with them. There was more than meets the eye I guess." said neighbor Rebecca Straus.
It all went down at Shorts' apartment on Pickering Court. Police staked out the place Tuesday night after getting a tip from a source that her boyfriend, Joey King, had heroin. Court documents say they spotted
King leaving the apartment and pulled him over a short distance away. Officers say he had heroin, crack cocaine and large amounts of cash on him.

The next day, police kept the apartment under surveillance. Police say King's brother and mother showed up at the apartment. When they left, officers pulled the car over. Court documents say the pair had cocaine, a gun and more cash. Police say King's mother stuffed some of the cocaine into her bra. Inside the apartment, police say they found 29-year old Shorts and more drugs, including marijuana.

"It's shameful. It is, because it's not a good example for the kids or the community." said Pamela, a mother who was playing with her children outside the apartment complex.
When told about the arrest, the Miss Maryland USA pageant coordinator, Angela Shealy said "It's sad to hear the news for her. It troubles me and I am saddened to hear that. She's always been a very lovely lady."

In court documents, police say Shorts admitted her boyfriend kept his gun, cocaine and cash in the apartment. She said she called King's brother and mother when he did not come home that night. According to the court documents they asked her where King kept his "stuff" and she told them the cocaine, gun and money were in the nightstand.

Just a few years ago Shorts seemed to have everything, a place in the national spotlight. Now she's a beauty queen disgraced.

"You can be glamorous and never know what you're doing undercover...anybody can live a double life," said neighbor Shirletta Reynolds who had heard about Shorts' pageant title.

She was released on 10-thousand dollars bond. No one answered the door at her apartment today. Miss Maryland USA organizers say they lost touch with Shorts after she ended her term. The onetime beauty queen was also named Miss Amity, the equivalent of the Miss Congeniality Award.
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