Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio under a federal grand jury investigation

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The shoe is on the other foot now. Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio is under a federal grand jury investigation. Officials confirm probe of Arpaio, his office:

In statements read by a county spokesman, Maricopa County Manager David Smith and Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson said they met with a federal prosecutor to discuss the case and will testify Wednesday.

Wilson said the general subject of the inquiry was abuses by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office. Neither Wilson nor Smith offered specifics, said county spokesman Richard de Uriarte, who spoke with the two officials Thursday night.

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Sheriff's spokesman Brian Lee said Arpaio was declining to comment on reports of the investigation. "He has stated that we will conduct business as usual," Lee said.

Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S attorney's office in Phoenix, said she couldn't confirm or deny a grand jury investigation.

Arpaio and an ally are embroiled in nasty legal disputes with county officials and judges. Two county supervisors and one county judge have been criminally charged in investigations by Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Last month, Arpaio and Thomas filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against a group of county administrators, judges and attorneys, accusing them of participating in a conspiracy to hinder an investigation into a $341 million court building under construction in Phoenix and the investigation of Supervisor Don Stapley.

He was told in March that his office is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

Maybe the good citizens of Maricopa County empaneled on the grand jury will finally take down this tyrant and bring an end to his reign of terror.

UPDATE: The Arizona Republic has more U.S. grand jury examining MCSO:

[David] Smith said he spoke with the U.S. Attorney's Office about these issues:

• Budget negotiations. In summer 2008, the Board of Supervisors directed agencies to make massive budget cuts in the face of an economic freefall. Hendershott accused Smith of threatening him, trying to intimidate him and attempting to thwart criminal investigations. Smith denied the allegations. The Sheriff's Office eventually took a budget cut.

• Court tower. When budget cuts were ordered in late 2008, Arpaio began to publicly point to the county's $360 million criminal-court tower under construction in downtown Phoenix as a waste of tax dollars. Detectives later launched an investigation into the project. No charges emerged, but the allegations against county elected officials, administrators, attorneys and judges appeared in a broad civil racketeering complaint filed in U.S. District court in December 2009.

• Wiretap sweeps. In December 2008 and March, county officials hired a company to sweep the county-administration offices for listening devices. Hendershott told The Republic that he would investigate the legality of the sweeps.

• Information requests. In June, the Sheriff's Office asked for calendars, e-mails, and office and cellphone logs for 36 county employees. A sheriff's spokeswoman said the request was "for a criminal investigation." Throughout the year, deputies questioned many county employees in their homes.

• Computer system. In August, the Sheriff's Office took control of the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System from county employees after the office filed a lawsuit to try to get control of the computer system. The system links the county's criminal-justice agencies to state and national databases.

The sheriff's investigations of Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox, who were indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury last month, were not identified as part of the federal grand-jury inquiry.

"I'm certainly gratified that the system is starting to work, where this kind of abuse of power is looked into by a competent authority," Smith said. "A lot of people have suffered; now I think that from the U.S. attorney, with respect to Sheriff Arpaio, justice will be served."

The U.S. Justice Department announced last year it was conducting a civil investigation into allegations of racial profiling against the Sheriff's Office.