Official Seeking 3rd Miss USA Prospect : 2nd Miss Minn. Drops Out Over Shoplifting

MINNEAPOLIS —  A second Minnesota beauty contestant has dropped out of the Miss USA pageant because of shoplifting charges and pageant officials today were considering a third entrant to the pageant in El Paso.

Frank Sweeney, state director of the Miss Minnesota-USA contest, confirmed that Jolene Stavrakis, 20, withdrew from the pageant.

Police said Stavrakis had been arrested on a shoplifting charge for which she paid a fine two years ago. Stavrakis was accused of taking two skirts valued at $76 from a Donaldsons store in suburban Burnsville.

On Tuesday, pageant officials in El Paso announced Stavrakis would replace the original winner who resigned.

Miss Minnesota-USA Sue Bolich, 24, resigned Monday from the pageant after Edina police charged her with a misdemeanor for shoplifting $370 worth of clothing, including a swimsuit, scarfs and hairpieces from a Daytons store in the Southdale shopping center in suburban Edina on Jan. 22. She is scheduled to go to court next month.

Second runner-up Julie Nelson, 20, of Bloomington, a theater major at the University of Minnesota, said today she has talked with Sweeney about attending the Miss USA competition.

She said she needed to purchase clothing and make preparations to attend the pageant in El Paso, where Miss USA will be crowned March 1.

“I will name the contestant,” Sweeney said. “I haven’t done that yet. These are matters that need to be discussed with parents. It’s premature to say she is going. I have talked with her.”