Judge denies Arpaio’s motion to erase his criminal contempt conviction
Megan Cassidy reports that U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton yesterday denied former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s request to vacate his criminal contempt conviction after he was pardoned by President Donald Trump. See the order here. In her ruling, Bolton said while Trump’s pardon “undoubtedly spared Defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed. It did not, however, ‘revise the historical facts’ of this case.”
Bolton found Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt in July, saying the former lawman showed “flagrant disregard” for another federal judge’s order that halted his signature immigration roundups on grounds his department was racially profiling people.
Trump pardoned his political ally weeks later. The move effectively canceled Arpaio’s scheduled sentencing hearing, but defense attorneys additionally asked that Bolton’s verdict be scrubbed from the record.
KJ