Defiance leads to Phoenix lawman’s downfall
PHOENIX—The political defiance that made Joe Arpaio popular as metro Phoenix’s sheriff for 24 years ultimately did him in Monday when he was found guilty of a crime for ignoring a judge’s order to stop his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
The TV interviews and news releases that the media-savvy lawman used over the years to promote his immigration crackdowns came back to bite him when the judge who convicted him cited comments the sheriff made about continuing his patrols, even though he knew he was barred from launching them.
“Not only did defendant abdicate responsibility, he announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise,” wrote U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton.
The 85-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5 on his misdemeanor conviction for contempt-of-court, which carries a jail sentence of up to six months in jail. Attorneys who have followed the case doubt someone his age would be incarcerated.
The verdict marked a final rebuke for a politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office last year as voters became frustrated over his deepening legal troubles and headline-grabbing tactics, such as jailing inmates in tents during triple-degree summer heat and making them wear pink underwear.
Critics said the verdict was long-awaited comeuppance for lawman who had managed to escape accountability through much of his six terms.
Prosecutors say Arpaio violated the order so he could promote his immigration enforcement efforts in an effort to boost his 2012 re-election campaign.
Lydia Guzman, a Latino civil rights advocate and longtime Arpaio critic, said the lawman was partly responsible for Arizona’s reputation as a place that’s inhospitable to immigrants.
“He is the one who led the rally against immigrants, and the legislators followed suit,” Guzman said, noting the state’s landmark 2010 immigration law. “I hope a lot of this is erased and that Arizona can go back being a normal state. I don’t know when that will be.”
Arpaio was barred in December 2011 from conducting immigration patrols by a federal judge who was presiding over a racial profiling case.
The sheriff had acknowledged prolonging his patrols but insisted it was not intentional.
He also blamed one of his former attorneys in a racial profiling case for not properly explaining the importance of the court order.