rssSheriff Joe Arpaio Accused of Misusing up to $80 Million
Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 5:35 pm
- 37 Comments
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial “America’s toughest sheriff” who pushed for SB 1070 and parades inmates around in pink, faces another scandal: His office was accused Wednesday of misspending up to $80 million in taxpayer funds since 2006. A review by officials in Maricopa County, where Arpaio is the head law enforcement officer, claimed the sheriff’s office used money meant for jail operations on non-jail costs such as salaries and investigations. Funding for jails comes from a special tax levy and is supposed to be kept separate from other spending by the sheriff’s office.
That wasn’t all, Talking Points Memo reported:
Excerpts of the reports, obtained by TPMMuckraker, show officials from Arpaio’s office made trips to Orlando, D.C., Honduras, Tempe, Belize, Alaska and Puerto Rico on the county’s dime and racked up other questionable expenses, like $741 at Sardella’s Pizza and Wings. The county was also charged $350 for a hotel room upgrade for one official’s spouse. One employee went on multiple extradition trips without submitting receipts for the $62,750 he or she spent — including $1,341 on Disney World Yacht Club Resort food and entertainment. [...]
County officials additionally allege that the sheriff’s office deliberately misused procurement codes and made capital purchases during spending freezes; used outside bank accounts; had problems handling inmate cash; demonstrated extradition travel irregularities; improperly used county credit cards; and spent public funds unusually.
The officials’ report comes less than a week after an internal memo from a subordinate was released urging Arpaio to stop corruption within the sheriff’s department. It is also in the midst of a Justice Department investigation into alleged civil rights abuses by Arpaio’s office. The DOJ sued Arpaio earlier this month for refusing to hand over documents for its investigation.
Notably, Arpaio received a favorable audit from the U.S. Marshal Service on how he treats his inmates, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
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Comment posted September 23, 2010 @ 10:41 pm
Is there a law putting limits on how much they can spend on trips and training? If not, we just leave it to their creativity, and that is not illegal, it can be totally wrong which probably is, but still legal. We have traveled using company expenses accounts, and there was no limit on how much we could eat or drink, or which hotel to stay, even if we flew first class was ok. Have to make rules very clear or else.
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Comment posted September 23, 2010 @ 11:53 pm
Joe will look great in pink undies and a striped jumpsuit!
Comment posted September 24, 2010 @ 2:11 am
good thing he got caught cause shit was about to hit the fan. its all fun and games till the cartel's start to unleash death warrents. like poncho francisco villa, there was nothing to stop him. warrents will get served on all you nazi's and sideline haters. you crackers dont have balls or heart, plus the sleepers are out there, living next door to you. go ahead act stupid, want a race war? pussy's. the native dont like you either. skin walkers to the us mex border. necklace
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Comment posted September 25, 2010 @ 3:17 pm
From the article: “Funding for jails comes from a special tax levy and is supposed to be kept separate from other spending by the sheriff’s office.”
It's not a matter of spending money on trips and training, etc. It's about misappropriation of funds. If you get taxed for something, why is it being spent on other things?
Read the article again Beto.
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