title:  Sheriff Joe Arpaio Is FINALLY Facing Criminal Prosecution
text: After 20 years of corruption, millions of dollars wasted in ethics charges, and a stain on the integrity of law enforcement, Sheriff Joe Arpaio will finally be facing criminal prosecution.After being found guilty in civil court for being in contempt of court, U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow, a Republican appointee, recommended that prosecutors bring forth criminal charges against Arpaio, second-in-command Gerard Sheridan, and Maricopa County Sheriff s Office Captain Steve Bailey. Also recommended for prosecution is Arpaio s attorney, Michele Iafrate.Two months ago, Arpaio, Sheridan, Bailey and Iafrate were found guilty in civil court of violating court orders to halt a process used by the Maricopa County Sheriff s Office that included elements of racial profiling. Not only did the Office, at the behest of Arpaio, intentionally disregard the orders, those named in the civil suit lied about doing so, even while under oath.In his order, Snow, who wrote 22 times that the defendants had  intentionally  broke the law and court order, said:Criminal contempt serves to vindicate the Court s authority by punishing the intentional disregard for that authority.In other words: Arpaio and his thugs aren t above the law.Congratulations, Republicans, while you all were screaming  lock her up  at the RNC, one of your keynote speakers, Mr. Arpaio himself, is being dragged into court to face criminal charges.Arpaio s legal team said they of course would be appealing the decision in civil court and challenging the recommendation for criminal charges.Even with Trump on the ticket, Arpaio is in the fight of his life to retain his seat as Sheriff of Maricopa County. After seeing his support shrink in every election since his first one   1994   Arpaio faces his toughest re-election bid yet, with multiple polls showing Democratic challenger Paul Penzone ahead in the race, something that has never happened to Arpaio (and similarly with John McCain in his race against Ann Kirkpatrick).If all goes according to plan, the voters will kick Arpaio out of office and a criminal court will finally find him guilty of abusing his power. Nothing would be better than seeing Arpaio in the pink underwear in Tent City.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images