Arpaio Accused Of Misspending Nearly $100 Million

HP Reports: Joe Arpaio's Office Accused Of Misspending Nearly $100 Million PHOENIX — An examination in Arizona's Maricopa County has found that the sheriff's office, widely known for efforts against illegal immigrants, inappropriately spent $99 million from two jail funds over the last eight years to pay for other law enforcement operations – including immigration patrols. The $99 million figure released Wednesday is an update to an estimate made in September by budget officials who said the sheriff's office was believed to have used $60 million and $80 million over four or five years from a jail tax on other purposes.

Since then, officials said they discovered that the sheriff's office had inappropriately spent money from a second jail account. Maricopa County officials also said that Arpaio's office had spent the money on unsuccessful criminal cases brought against two county officials and a judge.

"This is really a disaster for the county," said County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, who along with another colleague faced criminal charges in cases that were investigated by Arpaio's office and eventually dismissed. The findings by county budget officials discussed at a meeting Wednesday were sent to federal prosecutors who were already investigating Arpaio on abuse of power allegations. The sheriff has gained notoriety in part for his special traffic patrols that target (brown) people who are in the country illegally. The sweeps – Arpaio's most visible immigration enforcement tactic – have drawn heavy criticism from civil rights advocates who accused the police agency of racially profiling countless Latinos.

Arpaio has denied the allegations. Arpaio was not at Wednesday's meeting because he was at the scene of an immigration raid at a business. But interim Chief Deputy Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said there was nothing criminal about the mistake, which he blame on an outdated payroll system. He said the system failed to adequately track when jail officers were transferred to regular patrol.

Message to the DOJ: Please move forward quickly and arrest Arpaio and his goons for their crimes and abuses!

Arpaio's House of Cards Wobbles During DOJ Investigation

As ITWAMA has long reported, Maricopa County's Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his volunteer masked henchmen have run a reign of terror over Maricopa County for several years. He has abused his power by racially profiling Latino neighborhoods and has attacked his enemies by initiating false investigations against them. For this, Local Politicos have petitioned the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) to investigate his Sheriff's Office. Now, in the middle of this DOJ investigation, Arpaio's top aide has requested an investigation of the Sheriff's second in command and other Top Deputies for Abuse of Power and mismanagement.
It looks like Arpaio's house of cards will soon be crumbling down around him! Perhaps we will see Justice at last!
AZCentral reports:
A top aide to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has requested an investigation of the sheriff's second-in-command, Chief Deputy David Hendershott, and two of his allies, signaling growing concern among the sheriff's top hierarchy about the agency's management. A memo written by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell and recently delivered to Arpaio alleges years of misconduct and mismanagement by Hendershott, who has directed day-to-day operations of the Sheriff's Office since 2008 and has been in the department's top echelon since the mid-1990s.

The alleged wrongdoing amounts to criminal activity in the eyes of Munnell, a longtime law-enforcement official. The 63-page memorandum obtained by The Arizona Republic is the first clear inside account of a law-enforcement agency that is under investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for suspected abuses of power and has had considerable publicity about its failed corruption investigations into county officials and judges.

Munnell's memo has been turned over to the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for their probe. Both agencies declined to comment. (read complete article)