We went to Joe Arpaio’s birthday. So did serial murderer Sammy Gravano

As President Donald Trump tried not to fall asleep as U.S. Army tanks and troops paraded down Constitution Avenue for his birthday — or the Army’s, if you buy that justification — another MAGA-nificent celebration was happening thousands of miles away in Arizona.

While tanks rolled and nationwide protests roiled, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio rang in his 93rd birthday with about 150 well-wishers at his memorabilia-filled Fountain Hills office.

Dressed in a blue business suit draped over a gaunt frame, Arpaio mugged for the camera, received kisses from mostly matronly admirers and shook hands as if he were running for office again. He hasn’t been very good at the latter lately — after six terms as the county's chief law dog, he’s tried and routinely failed to win election again, including multiple stabs at becoming mayor of Fountain Hills. But you'd never tell it from the bevy of fans hugging up to him for selfies or handing him gifts and cards.

Chief among these was none other than notorious mobster and serial murderer Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. Once second fiddle to Gambino family mob boss John Gotti, Gravano turned state's evidence in 1991 and helped the feds bring Gotti down.

Eighty years old and wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt that revealed heavily-tattooed arms, the bald, smiling Gravano gave Arpaio a bottle of 19 Crimes wine — perhaps a reference to the 19 murders in which Gravano was implicated during his criminal career. (If it wasn’t a meta gift, it was a cheap one: The most expensive 19 Crimes bottle goes for $20.) Apparently, the two men bonded over their mutual support for Trump and their shared Italian-American heritage after meeting during a publicity stunt staged by 12 News.

"I don't need security," Arpaio told the crowd, introducing Gravano to them. "I got my security . . . You ever heard of the Mafia? He was the head of it. So I don't have any problem with security."

"So, who's the biggest criminal?" New Times couldn't help but ask the pair.

"Smart ass," Arpaio shot back. "He did more than me. He killed 18 people. But they were bad guys."

Well, 19, but who's counting? Plus, a full accounting of those who died needlessly in Joe's jails might give The Bull a run for his scharole.

A who’s ew of Arizona politics

Lesser lights visiting Arpaio to celebrate his 93rd trip around the sun included ex-Arizona congressman Trent Franks, a Republican who resigned in 2017 after allegedly offering to pay a female staffer $5 million to be the surrogate mother of his child. At the party, Franks referred to Arpaio as a "true Valley Forge American." After unsuccessfully vying to return to Congress last year — Franks finished distant fourth to current Rep. Abe Hamadeh in the GOP primary — Franks told New Times he had no plans to run for office again.

Longtime Arpaio ally and Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh was also in the house. Asked about the ongoing "No Kings" demonstrations scheduled for that same day, Kavanagh said he'd been to the Capitol earlier and claimed "there were hardly any demonstrators" there. The Arizona Department of Public Safety estimated there were at least 5,000.

A staunch anti-immigrationist from the days of Senate Bill 1070 and former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, Kavanagh said he was displeased with President Trump's recent pronouncement that immigration authorities would be pausing immigration raids on the farm and hospitality industries, which many have decried as cruel.

"I'm not happy with that," Kavanagh said. "I think he's worried about disrupting the economy."

Oh, the economy. That little thing.

Former Maricopa County Republican Chair Linda Brickman, also present for the festivities, said she had "mixed feelings" about Trump's apparent backpedaling on immigration.

"I care about Americans," she said. "I want people over here legally. I don't think the illegals should be here. I feel bad for those people who have come here legally, who have spent the seven, eight years, whatever it would take for them to have to become American."

And the need for labor by certain sectors of the economy? Brickman said that without that labor, "those businesses wouldn't be so huge and maybe they shouldn't be." Undocumented farmhands are “good workers and they're great, but I wish they would become legal,” she added. Were it only so easy.

(By Monday, The Washington Post and other outlets were reporting that Trump had — as he's been known to do — reversed himself on the order giving respite to the hospitality and agriculture industries. Score another round for the haters.)

Old glories

Later, the party decamped a couple of doors down to the Crowning Glory Tea Room, a business owned by Arpaio's daughter, Sherry Boas, wife of Arizona Republic political columnist Phil Boas. There, tables were laid with petit fours and other confections. With some encouragement, Arpaio blew out about half the lit candles atop one cake. (No, there were not 93.) The crowd helped with the rest and sang "Happy Birthday."

Arpaio’s party was open to the public, drawing an odd collection of admirers. Among them were a dude dressed as a Minute Man and a guy in a cowboy hat calling himself "Captain Thomas," who'd parked a long white limo outside adorned with the red “MAGA” lettering. Arpaio was sure to grab a photo in front of it.

Folks then wandered back to Arpaio's office, where the birthday boy held court. Hanging in a place of prominence was a close-up photo of Trump kissing Arpaio onstage at a 2024 campaign event in Phoenix. Below were documents bearing Trump's EKG-like scrawl announcing Trump's controversial 2017 pardon of Arpaio’s criminal contempt conviction. Arpaio got off scot-free while the associated racial profiling lawsuit has cost Maricopa County taxpayers more than $300 million.

"Contempt of court?" Arpaio shrugged at one point when New Times mentioned the conviction. "Nothing."

By the time the contempt conviction landed, Arpaio had already (finally) lost reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone. Waters have muddied a bit since then. Penzone resigned in 2024 after being found in civil contempt two years earlier by the same judge as Arpaio and in the same case. Last November, Arpaio's former chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, rode to victory in a red wave that returned Trump to power.

Trump promised "mass deportations" of illegal immigrants, and federal authorities have since been rushing to comply. The images of Latino drivers and workers being arrested and hauled off for possible deportation recall the dark days of Arpaio's reign, when his regular sweeps of Hispanic neighborhoods and businesses spread fear and panic.

When New Times asked Arpaio if he had laid the groundwork for Trump's immigration policy, the sheriff played uncharacteristically humble. He mentioned that he'd recently seen Trump's border czar Tom Homan when Homan spoke before the Arizona Legislature in April.

"I don't interfere with Trump and Homan," Arpaio said. "That's their program. So you don't see me talking too much today on immigration ... but every day, I got people calling about all that."

One sheriff to another

As Arpaio's wingding was winding down, current Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan showed up, playing cock of the walk. He gave his old mentor a kind-of-sort-of embrace, but bad blood has persisted between them at least since Sheridan opposed Arpaio's run for sheriff in the 2020 GOP primary. Sheridan won, only to get his ass handed to him by Penzone.

Sheridan later poached Arpaio's longtime fundraising guru Chad Willems, whose firm Summit Consulting Group raised millions of dollars for Arpaio over the years. In 2024, Sheridan's campaign paid Summit more than $364,000 for consulting services during the cycle. In January, according to county records, Sheridan hired Willems to be the "chief of administration" for the sheriff’s office. Salary, per a county spokesperson: $185,000 a year.

At Arpaio's birthday splash, Sheridan admitted the hire to New Times. Is that how people are rewarded for doing good work on his campaign?

"Absolutely not," Sheridan said, with a straight face. (Willems has yet to respond for a call for comment.)

As for Arpaio, does he feel betrayed by Sheridan?

“He's worked for me. I promoted him. He's a good guy. So I'm not going to talk about that,” Arpaio said, seeming to talk about it anyway.

“I'll use the word that I hate to use. It's a cop out,” he continued. “All I have to say is: That's politics.”