Infamous Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's staff misspent $99.5 million from restricted jail funds over eight years, Maricopa County officials announced today, The Arizona Republic reports.

Budget officials said a six-month review revealed that "discrepancies existed for years between sheriff's employees' actual duties and the duties reported in county payroll records," the paper writes. "As sheriff's employees were transferred around the agency, the payroll records were not always updated, creating a massive financial problem that will have to be confronted in coming years."

New systems are in place to prevent future misspending, officials said.

"Taxpayers are looking at us and saying, 'How in the hell did it happen?' " Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said at a news conference that the law-and-order Arpaio -- dubbed "America's Toughest Sheriff" -- did not attend. She suggested Arpaio, who has gained notoriety for his crackdown on illegal immigrants, had not been truthful when he vouched that his budgets were balanced.

No immediate comment from Arpaio.

"I don't think this was all an unfortunate mistake, but I think those people will be dealt with if there was intentional misconduct," said Supervisor Andy Kunasek.

The U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed it is working on the investigation.

the Republic writes that it's "unclear how the repayment could impact other county agencies still reeling from years of budget cuts, layoffs and, now, an increase in tens of millions of dollars in new state-mandated payments."