Miss Wisconsin USA resigns amid ID theft charges

(CBS) A top contender in  next month's Miss USA pageant, Shaletta Porterfield, has reportedly dropped out of the competition after being charged with three counts of identity theft.

Porterfield, who was set to appear as Miss Wisconsin, resigned on Friday after she was accused  of  stealing someone's identity for financial gain.

Pictures: Miss USA 2010
Pictures: Tarnished Tiaras/p>

The New York Daily News reports that the 26-year-old contestant admitted to police that she forged signatures of several business owners on contracts for advertising with a marketing company that she had been working for last summer.

When the businesses were asked to proof ads they hadn't agreed to buy, or paid for, they called the police.

Robert Nagel, Porterfield's lawyer, claimed that Miss Wisconsin was put under a lot of pressure to hit commission numbers.

"It's unfortunate, but she has a lot going for her, and she's ready to move on," Nagel told the newsaper.

The beauty queen has pleaded not guilty and is set to go to court in July. The Waunakee Tribune notes that Porterfield faces up to $100,000 in fines or 6 years in prison, at most.

Nagel said Porterfield may try to resolve the problem by reaching an agreement and pay fines or fulfill other requirements in order to avoid prosecution.

Porterfield will be replaced by first runner-up Jordan Marie Morkin of Green Bay to compete for the Miss USA title in Las Vegas.

This isn't the only time scandal has touched he Miss USA pageant, which is owned by Donald Trump.

Last year, details of Rima Fakih's pole-dancing past were revealed by a local Michigan radio station shortly after she won the 2010 Miss USA title, the first ever Arab-American to do so. Fakih won the radio station's "Stripper 101" contest after promiscuously dancing at a Detroit's gentlemen club in 2007.