SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- The sweltering heat inside the Capital Female Penitentiary got hotter, as contestants in the Miss Penitentiary pageant were working overtime using hair dryers.
Angelica Mazua, a statuesque Angolan facing international drug smuggling charges, was voted Miss Penitentiary 2005 on Thursday after a six-hour contest pitting 40 female inmates from 10 prisons against each other in Brazil's largest city.
"People told me, 'You're tall. You should enter the contest,' so that's why I entered," said Mazua, who has been jailed for four months and could be sentenced to about five years behind bars if she's convicted. "I've always been interested in fashion."
Other women imprisoned on charges ranging from armed robbery to drug trafficking also took part in the contest that officials began last year as a way of boosting inmates' self esteem.
Last year's winner, Fernanda Maria de Jesus, gained early release months after her victory, but prison officials insist the shortened sentence had nothing to do with her winning the title.
Judges include celebrities, soccer players and journalists, and there are prizes in three other categories, including writing, public speaking and congeniality.
Peru and Colombia also hold beauty contests in prisons. Sao Paulo's contest, which also offered a $160 prize to the winner, is one of the largest, drawing from its female population of almost 4,000 inmates.
