Two Tucson men were sentenced recently for stealing Saguaro cacti from inside Saguaro National Park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today. Joseph Tillman, 50, will serve eight months in federal prison. His buddy, Gregory James McKee, 42, was sentenced to six months of home confinement and 100 hours of community service. A park…
Back in 1987, cops say, Roger Cook blasted a guy with his .357 Magnum for no good reason. The single bullet killed 22-year-old Terrance Keenan. The young man’s friend, Richard Fair, dodged more shots fired his way by Cook, who was reportedly known in his apartment complex at 617 North Third Avenue…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the county Board of Supervisors has launched a new lawsuit that aims to “destroy the sanctity of the grand jury.”We haven’t seen the other side of this one yet, but Thomas’ office says the lawsuit filed on Friday in Superior Court seeks to prohibit…
A couple of weeks ago, we heard about a demand letter received by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office from a local lawyer, Leonard Aragon, concerning the attempted prosecution of County Supervisor Don Stapley.Aragon insisted in his November 2 missive that County Attorney Andrew Thomas repay the money spent on lawyers…
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s criminal investigation into potential misdeeds by county leaders includes Governor Jan Brewer, a source close to the investigation tells New Times.The source, who did not want to want to be identified, did not want to elaborate on the subject of the inquiry, saying only that…
Management of Arizona and New Mexico’s small population of re-introduced Mexican gray wolves will be returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service following a lawsuit by environmentalists. A news release by the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued, states that wolf management had been heading…
The great wealth amassed by infamous Arizonan Kemper Marley Sr., who died in 1990, has ensured the man’s name will be heard — and seen — for years to come. The guy had ties to the mob and a generally bad reputation (except when it came to making money). He was implicated, though…
Jonathan Antonucci, (at right), one of three suspects in a deadly fire at the Young Champions of America building in Phoenix, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson. Like Moniza Murillo, who took a plea in the case a few weeks ago, Antonucci got a break from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The…
Stymied by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, County Attorney Andrew Thomas now threatens to conduct the investigation and possible prosecution of Don Stapley in his own office. Again.Remember, the first case against Stapley traveled from Thomas’ office to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office. Then came the new case, examined briefly…
The impending death of the East Valley Tribune means fewer news articles in the future about things that go on in the Phoenix metro area. But it’s even worse than that: The planned shuttering of the Trib’s Web portal in two months, coinciding with the closure of the…
One of three suspects in a deadly arson fire that destroyed the headquarters of a youth activity firm has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson of an occupied structure. Moniza Murillo, 20, (pictured right), had been facing first-degree murder charges along with two other suspects for the June 14…
Phoenix police Sergeant David Lake may get to find out whether his supervisors screwed him over, thanks to unanimous pro-public-records ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court. As we related back in January, Lake was halted twice by the court system in his quest to obtain the metadata embedded in a…
Colleen Clark, the boozing president of the Maricopa Community College Governing Board, will serve 30 days in jail for her “super-extreme” DUI conviction. The Arizona Republic reported Clark’s sentence a few minutes ago, but we were disappointed to see which photograph the newspaper chose to accompany the article. Instead of…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas didn’t suceed at first, so he’s trying again — this time threatening the county Board of Supervisors with legal action unless members consider appointing special prosecutors to conduct an “investigation” of those same supervisors. In a letter sent to the supervisors last night, Thomas’ office demands they put…
Maricopa County Manager David Smith wants to know whether certain employees at the County Attorney’s Office are writing anonymous blog posts and comments. Smith sent a letter today to County Attorney Andrew Thomas and several of his employees, demanding the blog information. He also wants those staff members’ e-mails to and from news media members and…
A Harper College fan who was punched in the face by a Phoenix College football player after a December game is suing the player and the Maricopa County Community College District. Jimmy Lee Renfro of Kansas City, Missouri, had traveled to Phoenix to watch the December 6 game between Harper, an Illinois school, and Phoenix…
You don’t have to be a lawyer to see that the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office messed up part of its response to county management over the issue of hiring special prosecutors in the case against Don Stapley. The technical flub, which we’ll detail below, seems especially embarrassing for County Attorney Andrew Thomas…
Captain Joel Fox of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office filed a $75,000 claim against the county last week for the “emotional distress” of being forced to divulge the names of secret donors to a political committee. Naturally, Fox isn’t suing the Sheriff’s Office — just the Board of Supervisors, Elections…
The Arizona Board of Education is set to return the Colorado City Unified School District to local control — that control being by a bunch of polygamist inbreds. The corruption and financial mismanagement of the school district was unearthed six years ago by the tenacious reporting of former New Times reporter…
LifeLock, the ethics-bending, Tempe-based firm covered in two 2007 New Times feature articles, has been permanently banned from performing what used to be its most basic service.Under a lawsuit settlement with Experian, a major credit bureau, LifeLock can no longer place a fraud alert on its customers credit bureau accounts…
Image: Jaime Peachey Foreclosure will be the next step for the unfinished Centerpoint Condominium towers in Tempe, but what happens after that is anybody’s guess. At a hearing in Tucson today, U.S. District Judge James Marlar lifted a stay on foreclosure for the buildings and five acres of land they stand on…
Here’s one from the rumor mill: Russell Pearce (above), the state senator from Mesa who’s led the charge against illegal immigration in Arizona, could be appointed head of the state Department of Public Safety. The Phoenix Business Journal and KTAR (92.3 FM) quote anonymous insiders at the state Capitol who…
