Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Faces Criminal Contempt Charges
鈥婮oe Arpaio, the tough-talking, controversial Arizona sheriff whose nativist stance rocketed him to national prominence, now faces a criminal charge just weeks before a challenging re-election bid for a seventh term.
The 84-year-old sheriff of Maricopa County聽鈥� a leading Donald Trump supporter聽鈥� was charged last week in U.S. District Court in Arizona with criminal contempt-of-court for ignoring a federal judge's order in a long-simmering racial-profiling case.
The charging document accuses the sheriff of willfully disobeying a federal judge鈥檚 order by using racial profiling to arrest suspected illegal immigrants. The controversial practice 鈥斅爄nvolving a posse of armed, civilian volunteers 鈥攎ade Arpaio a folk-hero in some far-right, nativist circles.
Arpaio, who calls himself America鈥檚 toughest sheriff, refused to talk in detail about the pending case during an interview published in .聽 He would only tell the newspaper, 鈥淲e made a couple mistakes. I鈥檝e got good lawyers now.鈥�
Arpaio could face up to six months in jail if convicted, but a conviction wouldn鈥檛 bar him from continuing to serve as sheriff is he鈥檚 re-elected on Nov. 8.
The Arizona sheriff told the Post that he is a 鈥渧ictim of an active and ongoing 鈥榗onspiracy鈥� by the Obama administration and the mainstream media to undermine him and his friend Donald Trump.鈥�
The two were leading proponents of the now-debunked 鈥渂颈谤迟丑别谤鈥� conspiracy theory that Barack Obama wasn鈥檛 born in the United States and therefore couldn鈥檛 legally hold the highest office in the land. They also share an almost-paranoid fear of undocumented immigrants. At Trump鈥檚 invitation, Arpaio was a featured speaker at this summer鈥檚 Republican convention.
The sheriff鈥檚 legal problems have cost Maricopa County taxpayers an estimated $50 million and the eventual cost could hit $70 million, reported.
Meanwhile, Arpaio has raised $12 million in his re-election fight against Paul Penzone, a former sergeant in the Phoenix Police Department. When the two squared off in the 2012 sheriff鈥檚 race, Arpaio won by 6 points. But now an Arizona Republic poll shows Arpaio trailing Penzone by 15 points.
The likelihood that Arpaio could face criminal prosecution for his department鈥檚 alleged racial profiling police stops 鈥渂ecame increasingly inevitable after聽a prolonged series of hearings last year,鈥� the reported this week.
In May, a federal judge found Arpaio in civil contempt. On Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that its prosecutors would submit an order to elevate that to a criminal contempt order which District Court Judge Susan Bolton signed on Tuesday.
The order details Arpaio鈥檚 refusal over the past five years to follow court orders from other federal judges pertaining to racial profiling to stop and arrest suspected undocumented immigrants.聽
The Arizona sheriff, the order alleges, has been 鈥渕ore interested in maintaining his famed tough-on-immigration聽persona than following [the judge鈥檚] orders.鈥�
