Skip to main content

Political

Federal judge accepts Joe Arpaio's presidential pardon



PHOENIX — A federal judge Wednesday accepted the presidential pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

At the request of both Arpaio defense attorneys and U.S. Department of Justice lawyers, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton dismissed the guilty verdict against Arpaio with prejudice, meaning the case never can be tried again.

Arpaio, 85, had been found guilty July 31 of criminal contempt for “flagrant disregard” of another federal judge's order in a racial-profiling case. President Trump pardoned him Aug. 25 before Arpaio could be sentenced on the conviction, and Arpaio had faced up to a year's incarceration.

In December 2011, District Judge G. Murray Snow barred Arpaio's deputies from detaining individuals based on their immigration status, effectively putting an end to the long-time sheriff's signature immigration patrols. But the practice continued for 17 months, and during this time, Arpaio's office illegally detained at least 171 individuals.

► Aug. 28: Trump defends Arpaio pardon; lists other infamous uses of the power
► Aug. 25: Analysis: Trump's bold pardon breaks with presidential tradition
► July 31: Ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio found guilty of criminal contempt of court

Arpaio lawyer Jack Wilenchik asked that all rulings and orders in the case be dismissed as well. Bolton took that request under advisement.

Arpaio, who was voted out of office in November after serving since 1993, did not attend the court hearing. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trump unveils new strict 70-point immigration enforcement plan

Trump unveils new strict 70-point immigration enforcement plan Foreign nationals being arrested this week during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens in Los Angeles.  Determined to finally solve illegal immigration, the White House submitted a 70-point enforcement plan to Congress Sunday proposing the stiffest reforms ever offered by an administration — including a massive rewrite of the law in order to eliminate loopholes illegal immigrants have exploited to gain a foothold in the U.S. The plans, seen by The Washington Times, include President Trump’s calls for a border wall, more deportation agents, a crackdown on sanctuary cities and stricter limits to chain migration — all issues the White House says need to be part of any bill Congress passes to legalize illegal immigrant “Dreamers” currently protected by the Obama-era deportation amnes...

FBI chief on Russian hacking: We 'should have seen this coming'

FBI chief on Russian hacking: We 'should have seen this coming'. The US government should have anticipated Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 elections -- but the FBI is nevertheless working to make sure Russia "pays" for its actions, bureau officials said Wednesday. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said Moscow's efforts were surprising "in some ways," but that the intelligence community had enough information to have foreseen extensive efforts by Russian-government linked hackers and operatives to influence the 2016 election. "The fact is, the Russians have been targeting us with everything they have over the last 50 years," McCabe said. "We sort of should have seen this coming." McCabe was speaking at the Cambridge Cyber Summit, held by CNBC and the Aspen Institute, on a wide-ranging panel about the cybersecurity threat. The admission follows repeated statements from the intelligence community reaffirming the ...