FOCUS: ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY NEWS : IRVINE

Stephanie L. Shea, the 21-year-old daughter of Irvine’s mayor, will appear in the Harbor Justice Center today for a pretrial hearing on charges that she possessed and transported methamphetamine.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tony Ferrentino said he would prosecute Shea on two felony counts. “The case can be disposed at any point, if [Shea] pleads guilty,” Ferrentino said.

If convicted, Shea could face up to four years in prison, according to Tori Richards, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Police officers allegedly found a small amount of methamphetamine in Shea’s truck after pulling her over for a traffic violation Aug. 10. Shea also had been arrested for possessing a methamphetamine pipe in 1996, but had her charges dismissed after completing a six-month drug education program in San Diego.

Her more recent arrest led to a widely publicized rift between Mayor Christina L. Shea and two of her colleagues after Councilman Dave Christensen released personal messages Shea had left on his voice mail. Shea had complained that police officials had lied about her daughter’s arrest and accused Councilman Larry Agran of leaking the story to the media.

Mayor Shea, who had previously said that her daughter hadn’t violated any laws before the current controversy, said she had been unaware of the earlier arrest.