Ben Arredondo

Did Ben Arredondo Deserve Prison Time?

Former state Representative Ben Arredondo ended up receiving no prison time for his charges related to his ticket-bribery exchange and scholarship scam.Instead, Arredondo -- a 65-year-old Republican-turned-Democrat who served on the Tempe City Council for 16 years before making it into the state Hou ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Gets a Grand Total of Zero Days in Prison in Corruption Case

After all that, a federal judge sentenced former state Representative Ben Arredondo yesterday to zero days in jail.This, less than a year after being charged with bribery, extortion, and lying to FBI agents in a ticket-bribery exchange, then eventually pleading guilty to a mail-fraud charges, relate ... More >>

Judge in Ben Arredondo Case: Maybe FBI Should've Gone After Wall Street Instead

It looks like U.S. District Judge Frederick Martone had some reasons for sparing former state Representative Ben Arredondo from prison on his felony mail-fraud convictions.For one, Martone wouldn't really peg Arredondo as the kind of guy who would use the entrails of hookers as decorations.See also: ... More >>

Harry Mitchell Sticks Up for Ben Arredondo, Looks at the Bright Side of Corruption

Former Democratic Congressman and Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell has taken an interesting route in supporting ex-state Representative and recently admitted felon Ben Arredondo.While prosecutors are looking to lock up Arredondo for as much as three years on a pair of mail fraud charges, Mitchell was one ... More >>

Tom Horne Pleads "Not Guilty" on Fender-Bender, Avoids Friday Hearing

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has entered a plea of "not guilty" in Phoenix Municipal Court for his March fender-bender at the love nest of his state-financed mistress Carmen Chenal. That's the accident witnessed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had been dogging Horne over ... More >>

DPS Honchos' Ethics Are Questioned After Sports-Ticket Probe

Ben Arredondo Resigns From State House

State Representative Ben Arredondo has become the fourth member of the state Legislature's current class to resign because of some sort of scandal.Arredondo, who pleaded guilty to two felony charges last week, was ordered to resign from the House as part of his plea agreement.See also:-Ben Arredondo ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Pleads Guilty to Two Felonies; Plea Reveals Soon-to-Be-Former Legislator Also Ran a Bit of a Scholarship Scam

Soon-to-be-former state Representative Ben Arredondo pleaded guilty today to two felony charges, including one that wasn't even mentioned in the original indictment.Arredondo pleaded guilty to one count of "honest services mail fraud" -- related to the ticket-bribery exchange he had going on with un ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Scheduled to Plead Guilty in Bribery Case

A change-of-plea hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow in the bribery case involving state Representative Ben Arredondo, meaning he's scheduled to plead guilty.Arredondo was indicted in May on charges of bribery, fraud, attempted extortion, and making false statements for allegedly getting the tic ... More >>

The Feds Proved Themselves a Cage of Cowardly Lions in the Arpaio Investigation

Mike Williams, Lobbyist Allegedly Connected to FBI's Bust of Ben Arredondo, Is an Important Guy in Tempe

Talking Points Memo uncovered some details yesterday about the FBI allegedly using lobbyist Mike Williams as the middle-man between Tempe City Council members and a fake corporation in its bust of former city councilman and current state Representative Ben Arredondo.The question people may have is, ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Lawyers Tease "Three-Year Undercover FBI Investigation" and All the Awesome Stuff No One Gets to See

State Representative Ben Arredondo's lawyers say they just got so much information from the government about what the FBI's been up to that they're going to need almost two extra months to deal with the stuff.After Arredondo was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, attempted extortion, and making ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Records About Other Federal Investigations to be Held in Secret, Judge Orders

A federal judge has ordered that records in the criminal case of State Legislator Ben Arredondo that refer to other investigations will be held in secret.This seems to be more proof that while feds were probably happy to nail Arredondo for his alleged corrupt acts, the former Tempe councilman's trou ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Pleads Not Guilty; Judge Not Convinced of Need to Seal Evidence

State Representative Ben Arredondo pleaded not guilty (as expected) yesterday to charges of bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements.A motion to keep evidence in the case secret -- which revealed "other investigations," which are "both closed and ongoing" -- was denied.It's li ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Case: Will More Politicos Join Him With the Title of "Defendant"?

A filing submitted in federal court Wednesday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains that the feds don't want a bunch of information to be publicly disclosed in the case because of "other investigations," which are "both cl ... More >>

Ben Arredondo Isn't the Only One the Feds Are Looking at

If you're doing shady stuff at the City of Tempe or the Arizona Legislature, go buy a shredder, or book a ticket to Morocco or something.A filing submitted in federal court yesterday in the bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements case of state Representative Ben Arredondo explains t ... More >>

Joe Arpaio and Crew Remain Unscathed As Feds Go After Nickel-Dime Pilfering Pol Arredondo

May be apples and oranges on some level, but yesterday's bust of State Representative Ben Arredondo after a fairly elaborate FBI sting, got us to thinking about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his onetime henchman (i.e. chief deputy) Dave Hendershott.The federal indictment against the veteran Tempe pol claim ... More >>

Ben Arredondo, State Representative/Ex-Tempe Councilman, Hit With Federal Charges

State Representative Ben Arredondo was charged by a grand jury today with bribery, fraud, attempted extortion and false statements -- all for a few thousand dollars worth of tickets to ballgames and charity events.According to the indictment, Arredondo -- a Republican-turned-Democrat who served on t ... More >>

David Schapira Quick to Tell Ben Arredondo to Get Lost

Who knew we'd have to post that video for two different Arizona House members this year?It didn't take long after the news broke that Republican-turned-Democratic state Representative Ben Arredondo was indicted on federal charges including bribery, fraud, and attempted extortion for Senate Democrati ... More >>

Fiesta Bowl Fracas: Reimbursement of Campaign Contributions Confirmed, CEO Junker Canned, Questionable Spending Abound -- Including $33,000 Pebble Beach Birthday Party

​Here's something that was expected from the Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma beating Connecticut by 28 points. Here's something unexpected from the Fiesta Bowl: Their employees have allegedly been running a scheme to reimburse illegal campaign contributions (among other accounts of contemptuous courtship w ... More >>

Crazy Day For Arizona Dems; Burton-Cahill Retires from Senate, Schapira to Run For Senate, and Tempe Republican Ben Arredondo's Now a Donkey

Phoenix New Times (From left) Tempe City Councilman Ben Arredondo, Representative Ed Ableser, Representative David Schapira, and Senator Meg Burton-Cahill​ The Democratic Party is mixing things up a bit. At a press conference this afternoon, state Senator Meg Burton-Cahill announced sh ... More >>

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman isn’t afraid to step on a few toes as he waltzes into his second term

Emergency Brake

The state tries to halt out-of-control ambulance contracts — but cities might have the last word

What a Butte!

Developers and anti-growth activists want a piece of Tempe's mythical mountain

Pol Pot Luck

A Fortune Runs Through It

Tempe has long given the impression its Rio Salado project costs $45 million. The actual taxpayer tab could surpass $200 million.