America's Toughest Suspects

Is Sheriff Joe's pink underwear in Bureau's drawer?

Comments (0) By Tony Ortega Thursday, Dec 3 1998

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Romley spokesman Bill FitzGerald refused to comment on Mann's actions because the case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney.

Barnes says Mann turned to the deputies association for help, and Barnes, as association president, contacted Romley, who told Barnes he would call Roe. Roe quickly ended the investigation, calling it unfounded.

Allen, the sheriff's spokeswoman, says the investigation into Mann was started before he called Romley and that it was not payback for his support of Wetherell.

Barnes, however, disagrees. The investigation "was absolute fabrication, to use a nice word. And that's proven by how it was ended in the same day."

Barnes says other deputies are also coming forward with information to bolster Wetherell's accusations. Wetherell's attorney, Carolyn Crook, says investigators at the U.S. Attorney's Office will find plenty of witnesses to talk about conditions in the sheriff's office. "Arpaio has a complete conspiracy to create his own mafia there. I think what happened is that enough people told the county attorney about what was going on that something had to be done," Crook says.

Barnes concurs, saying that deputies are anxious to substantiate Wetherell's claims. "And if Arpaio doesn't cooperate with a smile," Barnes says, "the public should be suspicious. This is the sheriff who already looked at this situation and decided it wasn't worth investigating."