Is there a crack in the anti-immigrant alliance between Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Sheriff Joe Arpaio?
To say so, at this point, seems premature.
There are rumors afoot that all 10 of those reportedly arrested in Arpaio's recent raids on the family restaurant chain Uncle Sam's have been released.
That rumor is inaccurate.
See Also: Joe Arpaio Retaliates Against Katherine Figueroa, Hits Uncle Sam's with Immigration Raid
However, not everyone collared in the Uncle Sam's raids is being prosecuted.
According to the Maricopa County Superior Court docket, only four of those arrested in the raids on two Uncle Sam's locations have been charged.
They're hit with mostly class-four felonies involving forgery and ID theft.
Asked why all those arrested were not charged, MCAO spokesman Jerry Cobb issued the following statement from Montgomery:
"We did not 'scratch' any charges. While the results of the initial investigation did result in a series of arrests, our initial review of the evidence does not support filing charges against all of those arrested at this time.
"This type of procedural result is not an infrequent occurrence when prosecutors review cases submitted by law enforcement agencies and should not be understood as any change in how the MCAO prosecutes cases of employment-related fraud. As I have repeatedly stated, we treat these cases just as we do any others -- based on evidence."
I'll update this further if I get more. According to the court, these men are being held nonbondable pending trial, per Prop 100, Arizona's Bailable Offenses Act.
