Sheriff Arpaio's Captain Joel Fox, Illegal Donation Guy, Must Request Hearing by Tuesday on $315,000 Fine

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio always has plenty of juicy stories ready for the media. He recently announced he'll start charging inmates for meals and his deputies made a couple more arrests in the case of illegal immigrants working for Golfland. But far more interesting is the way Arpaio is letting...

By Ray Stern

December 17, 2008

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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio always has plenty of juicy stories ready for the media.

He recently announced he'll start charging inmates for meals and his deputies made a couple more arrests in the case of illegal immigrants working for Golfland.

But far more interesting is the way Arpaio is letting one of his top commanders dangle in the breeze. Sheriff's Captain Joel Fox made an illegal donation to the Republican Party in the name of the mysterious "Sheriff's Command Association," and because of that he now owes $315,000 in fines.

Will the sheriff let Fox go down in flaming bankruptcy? Or will he gather his commanders, figure out if some of them are responsible for Fox's pickle and do something about it?

The clock is ticking. Fox has only until December 23 to request a hearing to contest the order or to request an informal settlement conference. If he lets that deadline pass, the $315,000 fine will be final.

That's way more interesting than Christmas carols being used as psych ops in the jail. -- Ray Stern

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.