The controversial long-time sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County lost his bid for a seventh term on Tuesday night to a former Phoenix police sergeant.
The loss by Joe Arpaio, the 84-year-old immigration stalwart, to Paul Penzone comes two weeks after he was criminally charged for refusing to adhere to a judge’s order to stop his immigration patrols.
Arpaio has been sheriff for nearly two decades, but Arpaio recently was accused of illegally profiling Latinos who he believed may be in the country illegally.
In August, U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow ruled Arpaio had purposely violated numerous orders over eight years to stop racial profiling.
“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, Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan, Arpaio’s former defense attorney Michele Iafrate and Capt. Steve Bailey also face criminal contempt charges.
