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The allegations would surface again in 2008 — this time in the form of the mud-slinging, prime-time TV ad paid for by the Sheriff's Command Association. Viewers found the SCA ad so tasteless that TV stations pulled it the next day. But, as before, the damage to Saban's second run for county sheriff was severe. Arpaio won a fifth term — ensuring that Hendershott, Joel Fox, and other high-ranking commanders would keep their jobs.

The hypocrisy in the Stapley case is most evident in Thomas and Arpaio's continued attempts to control the prosecution effort. When Yavapai County moved too slowly on the new allegations, Thomas took the case back and tried to assign it to two expensive, high-profile lawyers from Washington, Joseph diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing.

Don Stapley
Don Stapley
Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas kicked off the investigation of Don Stapley on May 14, 2008.
Social Eye Media
Joe Arpaio and Andrew Thomas kicked off the investigation of Don Stapley on May 14, 2008.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk tells New Times she made it clear to Thomas that her office was more than willing to handle the second case, as long as Maricopa paid the bill for a special prosecutor, as it had in the first Stapley case.

It was Thomas' call to pull the case from Yavapai, Polk insists.

A source close to the investigation says Hendershott pressured Thomas to take back the case.

The Sheriff's Office "felt [it was] taking it in the shorts in the media" after the first case fell apart, the source tells New Times.

Once the case was back in Maricopa County, it immediately got bogged down in the ongoing county chaos. In a clever move, the Board of Supervisors — under a recommendation from County Manager David Smith — refused to even consider hiring the special prosecutors from D.C. The planned hires didn't conform to the "county-procurement process," county lawyers argued. And besides, they pointed out, the law requires special prosecutors to live in the state.

An outraged Thomas now threatens to prosecute the new case in his own office. Barnett Lotstein tells New Times that no conflict of interest exists, as Thomas has claimed all along.

That position sounds no more credible now than it did last December.


At press time for this article, Stapley still hadn't been formally charged with the new allegations, and his victory in the older case is on appeal.

The attempted takedown of Stapley keeps producing new headlines. And other investigations by Thomas and Arpaio look to be heating up. Wilcox is sure to be the next target on the Board of Supervisors. The Sheriff's Office is also continuing its behemoth investigation into what it claims is fraud in the planned construction of the court tower.

At the same time, Arpaio is facing some heat from federal investigations. Channel 5 news (KPHO-TV) reported this month that the FBI was probing Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office for allegedly using police powers to conduct political vendettas. New Times received word recently that the FBI was making inquiries into the latest news about the MCSO investigation of Governor Brewer.

As for the Stapley investigation, Pete Rios, a Pinal County Supervisor and former Democratic state legislator, says, "The appearance of what's going on in Maricopa County is that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the county attorney have not gotten their way with the Board of Supervisors. As a result, it appears they are trying to make it as hard as possible on the board — especially [on] Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox."

Yes, Stapley appears to have violated certain financial regulations. But the case against him started with paperwork infractions that he and Arpaio appear guilty of committing. In addition — with their history of power plays, political vendettas, conflicts of interest, and shocking heavy-handedness — Arpaio and Andrew Thomas' underhanded reputations precede them.

Even a shady county supervisor can't make these lawmen look righteous.

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