Arpaio requests public's help for legal fees

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio "desperately" needs help paying for his legal fees, according to a letter he sent out to supporters last week.

Arpaio wrote he can no longer pay for the mounting expenses for his legal defense in court alone.

"In some instances I have to personally pay for attorneys to represent me in these cases," he wrote in the letter. "I do not have the personal wealth or the wherewithal to keep up with the costly demands of paying for attorneys to defend me."

He later said, "I desperately need your help now -- I cannot do it alone."

This request is not entirely unusual, as Arpaio's legal defense fund has helped raise money for the controversial sheriff since 2010 to help combat the "numerous and frivolous lawsuits" filed against him -- according to the effort's website.

Arpaio is currently facing the possibility of being held in contempt of court by a federal district judge, stemming for years of litigation from a class-action civil rights case.