Whether he’s costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars or randomly taking potshots at recently deceased music icon Prince, Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a pretty awful excuse for a human being. A couple of weeks ago Sheriff Joe and three of his “top aides” were found to have violated a federal court order trying to curtail racial profiling. A contemptible man like Sheriff Joe being found in contempt of federal court seems fitting. The trial of Sheriff Joe and his crew of law enforcement henchmen has been enlightening. A steady stream of evidence revealing a relentless practice of racial profiling and the blatant robbery of citizens possessions and cash, under the guise of a “war on drugs,” have been highlights. You take this along with Sheriff Joe’s criminal behavior in using Stasi tactics to try to bring down a judge who dared to disagree with Sheriff Joe tyrant’s insane concept of law, and you’ve got a textbook case of law enforcement corruption in the sweltering state of Arizona. Today, Judge G. Murray Snow basically said that Sheriff Joe’s case will be referred for criminal prosecution.

The purpose of Tuesday's hearing was to discuss remedies for the civil contempt violations and the possibility of referring Arpaio and others to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Arizona for criminal contempt charges, which could carry prison sentences. During the hearing, Snow said he was considering four individuals for criminal contempt referrals: Arpaio; Sheridan; the former head of the MCSO's internal affairs unit (known as the Professional Standards Bureau), Captain Steve Bailey; and longtime attorney for the MCSO Michele Iafrate.

[My emphasis]

Before we pop the champagne, we cannot forget that Sheriff Joe is still very popular amongst Arizonans who are under the delusion that Sheriff Joe serves anyone besides Sheriff Joe. This, coupled with a corrupt enough state system that has allowed him to operate in the fashion he has for so many years, does not inspire confidence that true justice will be visited on Sheriff Joe.

In its response to Snow's recent findings, the ACLU, which represents the plaintiffs, asked Snow in a memorandum to refer Arpaio and Sheridan to the U.S. Attorney for investigation and possible prosecution for perjury, obstruction of justice, lying to the monitor, and other federal crimes. The ACLU also requested that the sheriff personally be fined $300,000 as part of a civil remedy. ACLU attorney Cecillia Wang raised these issues again at the hearing, flatly stating that "perjury was committed" by Arpaio and Sheridan during their testimony last year.

Perjury charges can carry up to a five-year prison sentence but they are infrequently pursued because they are infrequently successful prosecutions. In the end, this judge has done a lot considering the restraints the judicial mechanism has in place.

But, Snow said, he could not apply these disciplinary rules to Arpaio, who as an elected official was exempt from them. Arpaio was the "most culpable" of the defendants," said Snow, and yet, "I can't touch him in a civil contempt proceeding," because any fine levied against him may be paid out of donations to a legal defense fund, and not out of the sheriff's pocket.

[My emphasis]

The good news is that Sheriff Joe has been called the terrible law enforcement official that he is. It is on record that he had misused his power, stolen from others, lied in court, and will continue to cost Arizona taxpayers millions as more and more individuals step forward to reveal the injustice Sheriff Joe and his cronies masquerading as policemen and state troopers subjected them to.

And fingers crossed on criminal prosecution!