According to officials of the Miss Washington USA pageant, the winner of the pageant decided to give up her crown. The 23-year-old Stormy Keffeler failed to disclose to the pageant officials that she had a previous DUI conviction. The announcement, made by the pageant officials, came in late on Thursday while Keffeler's conviction of a drunk driving charge was made a month prior she was crowned as the winner of the pageant.
Back in September, Keffeler pleaded guilty to the charge. Based on court documents, the beauty queen spent a total of two days in jail just last month. This was in regards to Keffeler's arrest in April, when she was stopped by police officers. At the time, police officers stopped the girl because two of her vehicle's tires were flat. When police spoke with her, Keffeler had "droopy, bloodshot and watery" eyes. In addition to this, the Seattle Police report shows that she was speaking in a very slurred manner and even had difficulty putting full sentences together. On the report, Keffeler's blood alcohol level read .22; a number considered three times the legal limit.
By failing to disclose the incident when she submitted paperwork to join the pageant, Keffeler broke rules. Her decision to keep the conviction a secret after she was awarded as the winner of the pageant also cost her the title. If not for an email tip-off received by the organizers earlier this month, they would never have discovered the woman's conviction. The tip-off then lead the organizers to have a "legal discussion with the beauty queen. This later made her to voluntarily give up her crown.
Ever since she decided to step down, Keffeler has not spoken to the media about what happened. However, a previous interview with the beauty queen shows that she was prepared to "fight to the end." But after she met with the officials of the pageant and consulting with her family, Keffeler eventually decided that it would be the "most selfish thing" for her to continue keeping the incident a secret.
Following her withdrawal from her role as the winner of the pageant, the officials have announced first runner-up, Kelsey Schmidt, as the new winner of the Miss Washington USA. She will be representing the state this year at the USA event.
