Criminal Sentencing and Punishment

Avondale Man Who Traded Tattoo For Sex With Teen Gets More Than Seven Years in Joint

Juan Lara's tattoo parlor will be moving from his Avondale trailer to an Arizona state prison.​An amateur Avondale tattoo artist who traded a tattoo for sex with a teenage girl was sentenced to prison today after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted child prostitution and two counts of unlaw ... More >>

KPHO Pities Susan Brock and Her "Tough" Sentence With List of "Similar" Cases That Are Only "Similar" Because She's a Woman

www.kpho.com​Susan Brock, the teen-touching somewhat-estranged wife of Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, was sentenced yesterday to 13 years in prison for carrying out a three-year sexual relationship with a teenage boy she met through the Mormon Church -- and KPHO seems to think that ... More >>

Federal Government Dishes Out $119,000 in Fraudulent Tax Returns to Arizona Rapist Serving Life Sentence. Oops.

Troy Fears​While the inefficiency of the Internal Revenue Service is enough to make most Americans want to bang their heads against a wall (or fly an airplane into one of its offices), it's paid off nicely for an Arizona man currently serving a life sentence at a Maine prison.Troy Fears, 54, ... More >>

Kid Killer Jason Bush to Join Accomplice Shawna Forde on Death Row for Deadly 2009 Attack on Arivaca Family

Clear a spot on death row for kid killer Jason Bush.​Jason Bush, the kid-killing accomplice of Minutewoman Shawna Forde, will join his murderous cohort on death row, a Tucson jury decided today.Bush was found guilty last monthd in the murders of an Arivaca man and his daughter in May 2009.In ... More >>

Death Row Inmate Daniel Wayne Cook Denied Mercy by State Clemency Board. To be Executed Tuesday

Daniel Wayne Cook​As convicted murderer Daniel Wayne Cook's date with death inches closer, a state clemency board has denied his request for mercy.Cook's lawyers claim he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain damage that wasn't diagnosed at the time of his sentencing. His att ... More >>

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Stay for Condemned Murderer, Execution Scheduled for 10 a.m.

​If you're reading this after 10 a.m., there's a pretty good chance that convicted murderer Eric John King will be dead.The United States Supreme Court this morning denied a stay of execution filed by King's attorneys that would have delayed his execution until the state switches to a one-drug exe ... More >>

Catholic Bishops Protest Upcoming Executions; Say Death Penalty Contributes to "Culture of Death"

​There are two executions scheduled to take place in Arizona in the next week, and Bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference aren't happy about it.The group issued a statement on the matter this morning, which you can read in its entirety below. 

Daniel Wayne Cook Petition Denied; Execution to Go Forward

Daniel Wayne Cook​The execution of convicted murder Daniel Wayne Cook, who has been sitting on death row for more than two decades, will go forward after a last-ditch petition filed by his lawyer was denied by the state Supreme Court yesterday.Earlier this month, Cook's attorneys filed a petition ... More >>

Chandler Man Gets 25 Years in Prison for Fatally Tossing Toddler Onto Floor

Jeremias Joel Aguilar​A Chandler man convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter was in court this morning where he was sentenced to prison time and a probation.Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Robert Gottsfield sentenced 21-year-old Jeremias Joel Agu ... More >>

Daniel Wayne Cook Files Last-Ditch Petition to Avoid Execution

Daniel Wayne Cook really doesn't want to die.​Give it up, bub...After sitting on death row for more than two decades, Daniel Wayne Cook is still fighting to avoid his date with the executioner's needle, which happens to be less than a month away.Cook's attorneys filed a petition to review his deat ... More >>

Arsonist Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison; Still Faces Five Murder Charges

unodc.org Have fun trying to burn down your new place.​Arsonist and alleged penta-murderer William Craig Miller was sentenced today to 16 years in prison in a 2005 arson case, which probably doesn't sound that bad to Miller, since prosecutors will seek the death penalty in his upcoming murd ... More >>

Daniel Wayne Cook's Date With Death Scheduled for April

Daniel Wayne Cook will be put to the death on April 5.​It's on.After nearly 24 years on death row, convicted murderer Daniel Wayne Cook finally has been assigned a date with death.The Arizona Department of Corrections announced today that Cook will be executed on April 5, at 10 a.m ... More >>

Avondale Man Gets Life for Murder of Girlfriend's 3-Year-Old Daughter

Alvaro Duarte​An Avondale man convicted of murdering his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where Judge Janet Barton sentenced him to naturla life in prison.Alvaro Holguin Duarte pleaded guilty to the 2008 murder of Alisandra Oliviana Romero, his gi ... More >>

Daniel Wayne Cook Execution to Go Forward, State Supreme Court Rules

Daniel Wayne Cook's 24 years on death row could be coming to an end.​The Arizona Supreme Court ruled this afternoon that the execution of a convicted murderer -- who's been sitting on death row for nearly 24 years -- can finally go forward.The court approved the death warrant for Daniel Wayne Cook ... More >>

Phoenix Man Convicted of Murder After Dropping Dead Wife Off at Police Station Sentenced to Prison

Dwight Wesley was sentenced to 22 years in prison for murdering his wife.​A Phoenix man who brought his dead wife's body to the police station last year was sentenced in a Maricopa County Superior Court this morning.Dwight Wesley, 58, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last October, and ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Spree Wasn't First Arizona Rampage

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is fighting for her life.​The Saturday shooting rampage in Tucson that felled Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others, six of whom died, wasn't the first such mass-killing spree in Arizona.Listed below are other Arizona mass shootin ... More >>

Attorney Who Defended Unabomber, 9/11 Conspirator, and Olympic Park Bomber Slated to Represent Man Accused of Murderous Rampage in Tucson

www.jcsrlaw.net Defense Attorney Judy Clarke has defended a laundry list of high-profile clients accused of capital crimes​What type of legal defense will Jared Loughner's legal team mount? How do you defend a suspect who carries out a violent crime as publicly as the one Loughner alle ... More >>

DMX Moved to Mental-Health Unit at Arizona State Prison Complex

Arizona Department of Corrections Rapper DMX​Rapper Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, is housed in a mental-health unit at an Arizona State Prison Complex facility called Alhambra near 25th street and Van Buren.DMX was sentenced to a year in jail (minus 113 days served) on December 16 ... More >>

Mug Shot Pirate/ Rapist Extraordinaire Found Guilty of Sexual Assault and Kidnapping

Yarrr!​A convicted rapist, who has already served a prison sentence for sexual assault, is headed back to the big house after being found guilty of sexual assault (again) and kidnapping yesterday.At the very least, 34-year-old Jacob Israel Randles is looking at a minimum sentence of 94 years in pr ... More >>

Sean Gaines Gets 25 Years in Skinhead Slaying, While Patrick Bearup Remains on Death Row

Patrick Bearup: Facing the needle, while his cohorts cheat deathSomeone contacted me recently, wondering whether or not I support the death penalty. I told them I do not, but not because I think it's such a bad idea to give the needle to those who are dead-to-rights guilty of a capital crime.Rather, ... More >>

Serial Bank Robber Sentenced to Life in Prison. Judge Says He's the "Poster Child" For Three Strikes Law

www.tone-lizard.com​At a sentencing hearing this morning, a federal judge in Phoenix told a convicted serial bank robber that he "is a poster child of why Congress enacted" the Three Strikes law. Then he sentenced him to life in prison plus seven years.

DMX Probation Violation: Compliments of Cocaine and Oxycontin

DMX apparently has a thing for cocaine.​Since our earlier post about the arrest of DMX -- a.k.a. Earl Simmons -- we obtained some court documents that tell the real story of what the rapper allegedly did to violate his probation.Initial reports -- ours included -- were that X violated his pr ... More >>

Long Beach Man, 82, Sentenced to Seven Years in 1987 Manslaughter Case; Killer Caught After 22 Years on the Lam

  Image: Ray Stern Richard Rodgers, a.k.a. Roger Cook, and his defense attorney, John Curry of the Maricopa Legal Defender's Office, await sentencing. Rodgers received a seven-year sentence​An 82-year-old man caught last year for a 1987 murder -- and the central ch ... More >>

Report Released on Inmate Escape; Monitoring Practices at Kingman Prison "Lax," DOC Officials Find

Tracy Province, John McCluskey, and Daniel Renwick escaped from the Kingman Prison -- with help from McCluskey's fiancee/cousin -- on July 31.​Human error and "lax" inmate-monitoring procedures are to blame for three men escaping from an Arizona prison in July, according to an internal repor ... More >>

Phoenix Mom Gets 1.75 Years for Sending Teens to Rough Up Ex-Boyfriend

  Image: Arizona Department of Corrections Katherine Faye White received 1.75 years in prison after sending a group of teens to rough up her ex-boyfriend.​A Phoenix woman who sent her daughter and other teens to rough up her ex-boyfriend has been sentenced to 1.75 years in prison ... More >>

Joe Watson -- Salon Bandit, Jail Poet and Former New Times Writer -- Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

  Image: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Joe Watson, former New Times writer, will be more remembered for his role as the "Salon Bandit." Last week, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.​Joe Watson's gonna have a lot of time to work on his poetry-for-snacks business. The former wr ... More >>

Leader of "RIP Crew" Gets 15 Years in Prison for Cop-Staged Cocaine Robbery and Gun Conviction

​The leader of the "RIP Crew," a group of thugs involved in the illegal-gun and drug business, was sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday.A federal judge handed down a sentence of 15 years in federal prison for 30-year-old Juan Victor Munoz, a convicted felon, for his role in the sale of an il ... More >>

Prison Escapee Caught. No, Not That Escapee, the Other One

Jeffrey Douglas​Hopefully, Arizona prison inmate Jefferey Douglas enjoyed his brief taste of freedom because it certainly didn't last long -- about 20 hours.Douglas, an inmate serving a 7-and-1/2-year sentence at a minimum-security prison complex near Tucson, walked away from a prison work detail ... More >>

More Than 100 Inmates Moved From Kingman Prison to State-Run Facilities Following Escape

John McCluskey and his fiancee/ cousin Casslyn Welch.​More than 100 inmates previously housed at Arizona's privately-run Kingman Prison have been moved to state-run digs thanks to the three inmates who escaped from the prison last month.The Arizona Department of Corrections released its report on ... More >>

"Honor Killing" Dad Faleh AlMaleki May Go on Trial in November

Not a day or two goes by without someone contacting us to ask about the legal status of Faleh Al-Maleki, the Glendale man whose fatal October 2009 attack-by-car on his 20-year-old daughter Noor appalled (much of) the world. The comments usually go along the lines of this: "When is that sorry ... More >>

Graffiti Conviction Out of Character for 42-Year-Old Gang Member; Marcos Mejia Given One-Year Sentence

  Image: MCSO Marcos Domingo Mejia has been sentenced to one year in jail for graffiti tagging.​Phoenix prosecutor Will Gonzalez says he's "fascinated" by the case of Marcos Mejia, the 42-year-old graffiti vandal who recently received a one-year jail sentence for taggin ... More >>

Jeffrey Otto Sentenced to 10 Years for Young Champions Arson Fire

Jeffrey Otto was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role as one of four arsonists involved in last year's fire at the Young Champions of America headquarters in Phoenix. Otto, 20, had been the last of the three surviving arsonists to plead guilty to the crime that ... More >>

Homeless Man Sentenced in Murder of Shelter Worker

ABC15 George Overturf after being arrested for the shooting of shelter worker Kevin Collins.​A homeless man convicted of murdering a worker at the Central Arizona Shelter Services facility in downtown Phoenix last year has been sentenced to some lengthy prison time.  George Wilso ... More >>

Phoenix Mom Sentenced in Murder of 4-Month-Old Son

Katherine Hatten​A Phoenix mom, who plead guilty to the second-degree murder of her 4-month-old son, was sentenced to decades in prison today in Maricopa County Superior Court.The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced that 25-year-old Katherine Hatten got 37 years in prison for th ... More >>

A Valley Woman Who Nearly Died at the Hands of the Oldest Death-Row Inmate in the U.S. Believes His Maker's Dealing with Him Harshly

Going Rogue: An Obsessive Phoenix Patrol Cop Tried to Nail the Wrong Guy in the Baseline Killer Case

Thousands of Arizona Convicts Held Out-of-State Would Come Home Under Proposed State Budgets

Thousands of Arizona convicts held out-of-state in at least two private prisons would be coming home this year under budgets proposed by state leaders.The prisons in question are:* Huerfano County Correctional Center in Walsenburg, Colorado. Capacity: 752 beds. Held 676 Arizona inmates as of yesterd ... More >>

Convicted Child Molester Reportedly Commits Suicide at Arizona State Prison

Arizona Department of Corrections Monte McCarty​A man serving a life sentence for sex crimes was found dead of an apparent suicide at the Arizona State Prison Complex at Florence on Saturday.The inmate has been identified as 47-year-old Monte McCarty. Police say McCarty was pronounced dead ... More >>

Arpaio's Office Blows Its Smear of Judge Gary Donahoe; Analysis of Sentencings Flawed

Judge Gary Donahoe, chief of the Maricopa County Superior Court's criminal section, routinely lets criminals off without prison time, yet jailed a detention officer doing his job. ​ That's the gist of a December 4 news release by the Sheriff's Office which cites six supposed examples of ... More >>

Tyson's Latest Scuffle in L.A. Could Land Him in Prison in Arizona

Tyson's mug after being booked into Maricopa County Jail​One thing we failed to point out in our prior post about Mike Tyson's latest brush with the law is the fact that the former heavyweight champ is currently on probation here in Arizona.In case you forgot, in 2007 Iron Mike was convicted of mi ... More >>

Hot Links: Big Surf, Prison Books, and NAU's Porn Lawsuit

​Big Surf water park in Tempe will close at the end of Labor Day, perhaps for good. Golfland Entertainment Centers, which has operated the park since 1991, announced yesterday it will cease operations of the park to focus on its other ventures. The El Paso-based company that owns Big Surf has not ... More >>

Dead Inmate's Family Sues State, Says Prison Failed to Protect Man Who Wouldn't Kill for Aryan Brotherhood

  ​The Valley family of one of the dead prison inmates we wrote about in February is suing the state, claiming the Department of Corrections knew the inmate was in danger and did nothing. Timothy Lucero (at right) was a pot violator and car thief who was scheduled to be released by 2011 ... More >>

Diabetic Died Without Treatment in County Jail, Lawsuit Says; In Another Case, a Jailed Epilectic Claims Injury After Being Denied Meds

​ Two new lawsuits against Maricopa County seem to emphasize why medical treatment for jail inmates needs improving. In one case, a diabetic man died of gangrene in 2007 after six weeks in the clink. The family of David McClurg alleges that even though McClurg himself ... More >>

"Retarded" German Killer Rudi Apelt Sentenced (Again)

Arizona Department of Corrections Michael Apelt (left) remains on death row, but Rudi Apelt can't be executedRudi Apelt, a German national whose brutal murder of a local woman led to a death sentence in 1989, got a reprieve from death row in May after his lawyers convinced a judge that he is ... More >>

No Jail for DMX: Rapper Sentenced to Supervised Probation

Wikimedia Commons DMX has avoided more jail time in Phoenix.Earl Simmons, better known as rapper DMX, will not have to do more jail time in Phoenix.The hip-hop star, 38, was sentenced to supervised probation by the Maricopa County Superior Court today, for a charge stemming from his previous ... More >>

The Lumley Vampire Attacks Arizona Department of Corrections’ Charles Ryan for the Death of Marcia Powell, Arpaio’s Goons Zip-Tie a 12-Year-Old, and the Jail Lockdowns Are Over

Inmate Move, Redux: Arpaio Covers Himself with Move of 900 Inmates This Afternoon

Joe had so much fun marching inmates awaiting trial in February, he's doing it again...In an attempt to recapture his status as an equal-opportunity sadist, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's reprising his 200 Mexican March, which inflamed the Hispanic community and civil rights activists back in February. Howeve ... More >>

Lawyers for Inmates in County Jail Conditions Lawsuit Seek $1.4 Million in Fees; Jail Problems Improving, Says Lawyer

Lawyers in a major lawsuit that sought better conditions for Maricopa County Jail inmates want the county to reimburse their $1.4 million in fees since a judge ruled in their favor. In October, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake ordered the county to allow pretrial inmates to take th ... More >>

Violence Continues in Arizona Prisons; Inmate Possibly Stabbed

Less than a week after our report on the high number of 2008 inmate homicides in Arizona prisons, the state Department of Corrections is reporting another possible stabbing. Maybe this latest incident will help draw attention to the inmate-on-inmate violence in state prisons -- which has a ... More >>

Four Inmate Homicide Deaths (at Least) in State Prisons in 2008; High Number Comes After Employees Disciplined in '06 Murder

Four men, possibly more, were killed by other inmates in Arizona state prisons last year, an unusually high number just one year after an inmate death spurred the firing of a warden and discipline for 13 guards.AZ Department of CorrectionsSean Kelly, one of four state prisoners killed by other inmat ... More >>