title:  Judge Recommends Joe Arpaio For Criminal Prosecution After He’s Found Guilty Of Perjury
text: After being held in civil contempt for failing to follow a judge s order not to racially profile, Sherriff Joe Arpaio and others held in the contempt of court may now be facing criminal prosecution.Judge G. Murray Snow, who presided over the civil contempt case after finding evidence that Arpaio and other deputies intentionally violated order, referred the case to the criminal court system: The purpose of Tuesday s hearing was to discuss remedies for the civil contempt violations and the possibility of referring Arpaio and others to the U.S. Attorney s Office for Arizona for criminal contempt charges, which could carry prison sentences. The other individuals who may face criminal charges are Captain Steve Bailey, the former head of the MCSO s internal affairs; attorney for the Maricopa County Sherriff s Office Michele Iafrate; Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan.According to the Phoenix New Times:Bailey and Iafrate allegedly misled the court s monitor about the existence of more than 1,400 IDs improperly seized by the MCSO from individuals stopped or arrested, many of them Latinos. Misleading the monitor is potentially a federal offense, punishable by five years in prison. Snow directly addressed the attorney at one point, saying,  Ms. Iafrate, I think you should obtain counsel though he said he may refer the matter concerning her to State Bar of Arizona for possible disciplinary proceedings.A crooked Sheriff with a crooked attorney. When Snow made his original findings, the ACLU requested that all parties involved on MCSO s side be referred to the U.S. Attorney, and be charged with perjury, obstruction of justice, lying to the monitor and other crimes. Snow agreed, saying,  If the DOJ wants to pursue charges based on my findings, they can.  He also agreed with the ACLU s request that Arpaio be fined more than $300,000 for his offenses.Charges for Arpaio, if found guilty in criminal court of committing perjury, could carry up to five years in prison. The perjury charges stem from the civil trial, when Judge Snow asked if Arpaio s office had improperly investigated Snow and tied him to an anti-Eric Holder conspiracy. Arpaio repeatedly said no. That was found to have been a lie.Arpaio s criminal attorney pleaded with the judge to go lenient on the Sheriff, saying a criminal probe would be  devastating to the Sheriff s office and the sheriff himself,  and said that Arpaio has a  broken heart and contrite spirit.  He also complained that the fine of $100,000 Arpaio already has to pay is harsh enough, considering it s one year s worth of salary.Cry me a river. Thankfully, Judge Snow shot him down real quick.Let s hope Sheriff Joe finally goes to jail for his years of racial profiling, abuse of power, and wasting taxpayer money.Featured image via Ethan Miller/Getty Images