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Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the outspoken, tough-talking 82-year-old leading lawmaker from Arizona, issued a mea culpa to a judge in federal court in Phoenix, Judge Murray Snow, for violating an order on racial profiling.
The self-dubbed “America’s toughest sheriff” is in trouble for civil contempt stemming from 2011, when a judge ordered the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to quit racial profiling and end the targeting of illegal immigrants. Law enforcement agents under his jurisdiction continued to conduct sweeps about 18 months after the order to halt was issued.
Arpaio issued the apology in court in Phoenix during the second day of a hearing to determine if he and four others will be punished for their failures to carry out the orders.
“I have deep respect for the courts,” he said, Thompson/Reuters reported. “It really hurts me after 55 years to be in this position. I want to apologize to the judge. I should have known more about these court orders that slipped through the cracks.”
Arpaio’s defense is he left it to his subordinates to carry out the judge’s orders and did not double check to ensure all was being done completely and correctly.
The case will continue into June.
Also during Thursday’s hearing, Arpaio dropped a bombshell and admitted his office was part of a quiet investigation into Snow’s wife.
“We were investigating some comments that came to our attention,” Arpaio said, saying his former lawyer, Tim Casey, had hired a private investigator to look into remarks she allegedly made about her husband not wanting Arpaio to win his reelection in 2012, the Associated Press reported.
