Joseph Arpaio

[Angelhair]

Joseph M. Arpaio

You probably know him as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” a name given to him years ago by the media. It’s a name he certainly has earned as head of the nation’s third largest Sheriff’s Office which employs over 3000 people. But even before he became Sheriff in 1993, Joe Arpaio was one tough lawman. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1953, and as a Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, NV, police officer for almost five years, Arpaio went on to build a federal law enforcement career and a reputation for fighting crime and drug trafficking around the world.

He began his career as a federal narcotics agent, establishing a stellar record in infiltrating drug organizations from Turkey to the Middle East to Mexico, Central, and South America to cities around the U.S. His expertise and success led him to top management positions around the world with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He concluded his remarkable 32-year federal career as head of the DEA for Arizona.


Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

 

[waltky]

Ariz. sheriff finally ends Obama birth probe...

Sheriff Joe Arpaio closes probe of Obama birth certificate
December 15, 2016 — Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona has fixated on the authenticity of President Barack Obama's birth certificate for more than five years, going so far as to send a deputy and member of his volunteer posse to Hawaii to question officials.

He earned plaudits from Donald Trump and became one of the nation's leading voices on the debunked controversy over Obama's birthplace. Arpaio closed his yearslong investigation Thursday, ending a chapter that critics denounced as a shameless ploy to raise money from his right-wing base. The news conference from the media-savvy sheriff came three weeks before the end of his 24 years as metro Phoenix's top law enforcer and five weeks before Obama leaves office. He complained to a crowd of about 75 supporters that his claims about the document weren't taken seriously. "We and anyone else who dared to question the document have been maligned, falsely labeled and grossly criticized," Arpaio said, refusing to take questions from reporters.

The sheriff took up the "birther" mantle as he faced some of his worst legal troubles, including a racial profiling case that discredited his patrols targeting immigrants and a grand jury inquiry into his failed investigations of local political enemies. He refused to back away from the investigation three months ago when Trump, an Arpaio ally, relented on his claim that Obama wasn't born in the U.S. Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo, a longtime Arpaio critic, said the investigation was a publicity stunt to raise the sheriff's national political profile and bring in campaign dollars. "He was trying to throw meat to his base, and that's exactly what he did," Gallardo said. "He threw red meat."

Arpaio was not the only Arizona politician to plunge into the erroneous effort. The Arizona Legislature passed a bill in 2011 that would have required Obama and other presidential candidates to prove they were U.S. citizens before their names could appear on the ballot. It was vetoed by the GOP governor. Several Electoral College members even questioned Obama's eligibility to serve as president as they cast their votes for Republican Mitt Romney four years ago. Arpaio has said he launched the probe after nearly 250 people connected to an Arizona tea-party group requested it. He pressed forward despite aides warning he would be ridiculed.

In the 2014 documentary "The Joe Show," Arpaio was seen brushing aside his publicist's prediction that he would be viewed as a clown. The sheriff said the investigation would help his fundraising efforts. "It may look nuts, but you know what, it's going to be pretty good," Arpaio said. The sheriff won praise several months later in a tweet from Trump: "Congratulations to @RealSheriffJoe on his successful Cold Case Posse investigation which claims @BarackObama's 'birth certificate' is fake." Arpaio farmed out the investigation to volunteers on his posse, which is funded through donations, in anticipation of criticism he was throwing away taxpayer money.

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[007]

Ya... so... there's no more to be investigated... they've proven Barry's CofB to be a pathetic forgery and it's over.

If he ever has to answer for defrauding America and illegally holding the office of president is yet to be seen.

 

[waltky]

Sheriff Joe at the mercy of judge...

Sheriff Joe's Fate Now in the Hands of Judge
July 7, 2017 - The fate of Joe Arpaio, who embraced the moniker “America’s toughest sheriff,” rests with a judge after lawyers wrapped up closing arguments Thursday at his criminal trial on the topic that helped Arpaio win a nationwide reputation — immigration.

Arpaio, who held six terms as sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County before losing re-election in November, is accused of criminal contempt for defying a judge’s 2011 court order to refrain from racially profiling Latinos during patrols. The question at the center of the trial, which started in late June in a federal court in Phoenix, is whether Arpaio intentionally violated the court’s order to stop Sheriff’s Department personnel from racially profiling during patrols. In order to win a conviction, prosecutors must prove Arpaio intentionally violated the judge’s order. Despite acknowledging that he prolonged patrols that targeted Latinos after the judge’s 2011 order, Arpaio insists any profiling was not intentional.

The case was not heard by a jury. If U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton finds Arpaio guilty of the misdemeanor charge, the 85-year-old could face up to six months in jail. The outspoken Arpaio won fame — or infamy, depending on the point of view — for policies that made incarceration tough (such as housing inmates in canvas tents) or possibly humiliating (such as forcing inmates to wear pink underwear). Most of all, he was known for crackdowns on illegal immigration. With 4 million people, Maricopa County is Arizona’s largest county and home to Phoenix. According to Pew Research Center data from 2014, 30 percent of county residents are Latino, almost double the number from 1990. Arpaio’s latest legal battle has drawn the attention of many immigrant activists who say a conviction would mean a long-delayed comeuppance.

Joe Arpaio speaks on the last day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Arpaio is accused of criminal contempt for defying a judge's 2011 court order to refrain from racially profiling Latinos.​

But Arpaio’s tough immigration tactics have also drawn support, including that of President Donald Trump, who invited Arpaio to stand alongside him at rallies during his presidential campaign. Until last fall, he coasted to re-election every four years. A defiant Arpaio once boasted that he continued to crack down on immigrants illegally in the country even after complaints alleging profiling by his department. “After (the Justice Department) went after me, we arrested 500 more just for spite,” Arpaio told supporters in 2009 during a fundraiser for an anti-illegal-immigration group.

Arpaio’s latest legal fight is one of a series he has faced over the years. In years past, was able to project a defiant tone after prevailing in court. For example, in 2009, his attorneys argued successfully that then-U.S. District Judge Mary H. Murguia could not hear his case impartially because her twin sister was the leader of the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group. But in recent years, he’s suffered courtroom setbacks. In 2013, a judge found that Arpaio’s deputies had systematically profiled Latinos during traffic stops as they tried to find people in the country illegally. In January 2015, U.S. District Judge David Campbell found that Arpaio improperly used a law intended to combat identity theft. Instead, his department employed the law to round up more than 800 men and women in the country illegally during workplace raids. The judge called the use of the law unconstitutional.

Sheriff Joe's Fate Now in the Hands of Judge | Officer.com