Longtime Phoenix sheriff has history of legal issues
PHOENIX — Gary Donahoe learned firsthand the consequences of crossing Sheriff Joe Arpaio when the lawman was still one of Arizona’s most powerful politicians.
Arpaio was launching criminal investigations against county officials eight years ago because he was upset at them over budget cuts and opposed the county’s plan to build a new courthouse building. Donahoe — at the time a judge who ruled against Arpaio in the fight — got charged with bribery. The case was later thrown out, but he says his reputation was ruined.
Tuesday night, President Trump suggested he intends to pardon Arpaio, who is awaiting sentencing in Arizona after his conviction in federal court for disobeying court orders to stop his immigration patrols. After whipping up the crowd about Arpaio, Trump said he wanted to avoid “controversy” by not speaking about the pardon, but added: “I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine.”
Donahoe fears the lawman is going to wriggle out of his legal troubles yet again. “It looks like he’s going to walk away from it without any repercussions,” he said.
Critics say a pardon would remove the last chance the community has to finally call Arpaio into account for a litany of misconduct over his 24 years as sheriff. They cited Arpaio’s investigations of his legal and political foes, a racial profiling case that led to his criminal conviction and his failure to adequately investigate more than 400 sex-crimes cases.
Arpaio, who was booted from office last year, said Donahoe’s case and other instances in which he was accused of misconduct aren’t relevant to the discussion of his possible pardon.
“They have been after me for years,” Arpaio said Monday. “The same people. What’s new?”
Here is a look at some of Arpaio’s legal issues over the years:
Investigating foes: Arpaio has a reputation for investigating officials who cross him in legal or political disputes. Maricopa County paid $8.7 million to settle lawsuits filed by county officials who claimed Arpaio had launched criminal investigations against them on trumped-up allegations.
Racial profiling: Arpaio was convicted in July of misdemeanor contempt of court for disobeying a judge’s order to stop his immigration patrols that targeted immigrants.
The conviction stems from a civil rights case in which Arpaio’s officers were found to have racially profiled Latinos in his patrols.
His office acknowledged throwing away or shredding some trafficstop records during immigration patrols.
Botched investigations: Arpaio spent years trying to cultivate an image as a law enforcer who was tough on criminals. But that reputation was undermined when his office failed to adequately investigate more than 400 sex-crimes cases, including dozens of child molestation reports, over a three-year period ending in 2007.
Legal costs: Maricopa County spent $141 million defending Arpaio against lawsuits. That includes $54 million in the racial profiling case alone.