Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio officially charged with criminal contempt

With a federal judge's signature on a proposed order initially submitted by prosecutors Oct. 17, the deal is sealed: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is criminally charged with federal contempt of court.

A trial is set for Dec. 6 in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.

Since
early 2015, criminal-contempt charges have loomed over Arpaio, the potential consequence for violating a federal judge’s order to stop enforcing civil immigration laws.

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The threat of criminal prosecution became increasingly likely after a prolonged series of hearings last year. A federal judge’s finding of civil contempt came in May 2016, followed by his referral for criminal prosecution in August, followed by the Department of Justice’s announcement on Oct. 11 that its attorneys would, in fact, prosecute the six-term lawman.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, who signed the agreement Tuesday, previously agreed that a maximum penalty of six months in jail would be appropriate for the 84-year-old sheriff if he is convicted.

In past statements, Arpaio had assailed a criminal-contempt charge as a politically motivated plot to derail his chances at re-election.

The charges are rooted in a 9-year-old racial-profiling case against the Sheriff's Office. Plaintiffs including the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that the sheriff’s signature immigration patrols violated Latinos’ constitutional rights.

In December 2011, months before the trial was to begin, U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow issued a preliminary injunction over the Sheriff's Office. The order banned deputies from detaining anyone solely on suspicion they were undocumented immigrants, and without cause to believe a crime had been committed.

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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks about his age, computers and running for re-election at a “Believers in Trump” meeting Oct. 20, 2016, at Lydia's La Canasta in Wickenburg. Mark Henle/The Republic

Arpaio’s attorney boiled the order into simpler terms: “arrest or release,” he told his client at the time.

In May 2013, Snow officially determined the office had racially profiled Latinos. The following months would introduce multi-million-dollar reforms to the Sheriff's Office, including anti-bias training, recording devices for deputies, and a court-appointed monitor to ensure the agency followed the letter of the law.

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Justice Department files proposed contempt charge against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

But information emerged that the office continued to detain undocumented immigrants for at least 18 months after the judge’s preliminary order — up to May 2013 and maybe beyond.

Arpaio’s attorneys didn’t deny the violations, but they said the mistakes were unintentional. Plaintiffs’ attorneys, who pointed to Arpaio’s hard-line rhetoric on illegal immigration, argued otherwise.