A federal judge announced late Friday he will recommend Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio to the U.S. attorney general’s office to be charged with criminal contempt of court.
U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow ruled Arpaio had purposely violated numerous orders in his eight-year legal battle over claims of racial profiling Latino illegal immigrants.
“Criminal contempt serves to vindicate the Court’s authority by punishing the intentional disregard for that authority,” Snow wrote in a federal court filing.
In addition to the sheriff, the judge asked Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, Arpaio’s former defense attorney Michele Iafrate and Capt. Steve Bailey also face criminal contempt charges.
In May, Snow ruled Arpaio and three others — Sheridan, retired Chief Brian Sands and Lt. Joe Sousa — were in civil contempt after ignoring the judge’s orders issued the previous May.
“In short, the Court finds that the Defendants have engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, and bad faith with respect to the Plaintiff class and the protection of its rights,” Snow wrote in a 162-page finding of fact in the case.
The judge said his rulings were based on the office’s violating three instructions: not turning over video evidence that had been required before the trial, continuing to enforce an unrelated immigration law the judge had banned, and a failure on Sheridan’s part to collect evidence after the trial.
“Sheriff Joe” Arpaio has won the support of many Republicans who want tougher enforcement of immigration laws, and he endorsed Donald Trump for president.
