Jailed Socialite Moved for ‘Violating Rules’

Former Newport Beach socialite Tina Schafnitz, 39, has a new address: the Central Women’s Jail in Santa Ana.

Schafnitz, serving a 10-month sentence for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer, was transferred from the minimum-security James A. Musick Facility in Irvine this week in what jail officials described as a disciplinary and precautionary move.

“She was habitually violating rules and posing a security risk in a minimum-security facility,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Hector Rivera. “She was moved to a secure facility to ensure any violations would be minimized.”

Rivera declined to provide details of the rules violations or explain the security risk.

Robert Newman, Schafnitz’s attorney, confirmed that she had been transferred but declined comment.

Schafnitz was initially assigned to kitchen duty at Musick, working from 2:30 to 10:30 a.m., she said in an interview last month.

Schafnitz, a high-profile fund-raiser and socialite in Newport Beach, was sentenced in April to 10 months in jail and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to selling about $1,000 worth of cocaine to an undercover Tustin police officer outside a country and western nightclub. She also was fined $5,000.

On April 30, Schafnitz’s husband of 15 years, insurance broker Matthew Schafnitz, 55, filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple have two children, ages 8 and 5.