Thread: AZ. Pinal Sheriff Paul Babeu exonerated

Pinal Sheriff Paul Babeu exonerated

Will not face criminal charges related to allegations that he abused his authority

by Rebekah L. Sanders and Lindsey Collom -
Aug. 31, 2012 04:33 PM
The Republic | azcentral

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu was cleared and will not face any charges related to allegations that he abused his authority, the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced Friday.

Review of evidence of threats

Summary of allegations

A seven-month criminal investigation by Solicitor General Dave Cole exonerated Babeu after concluding he committed no criminal violations.

At an afternoon news conference outside the Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Florence, Babeu's personal attorney Timothy LaSota said it was a thorough investigation that completely vindicated the sheriff.

A former boyfriend had accused Babeu of threatening his immigration status if he didn't keep quiet about the relationship. Babeu repeatedly denied making any threats. Babeu, who won the Republican primary in the Pinal County Sheriff's race on Tuesday, requested the independent investigation.

Babeu, who was surrounded by supporters, said it was the outcome he anticipated when he asked for the inquiry.

"Seven months ago right in this very same spot I stood here and there were some pretty severe allegations that were made against me, some of the worst things you can say about somebody in law enforcement: that they threatened someone, that they abused their authority," he said outside the Sheriff's Office. "I knew then the truth. ... Exactly what we knew would happen is that I would be cleared."

The inquiry also was closed with no charges filed against Babeu's former boyfriend, Jose Orozco, whom the sheriff had accused of theft of property and identity, fraud and impersonation.

"The investigation determined that Babeu did not commit any criminal violations and further concluded that, although Orozco conducted himself in a manner that may constitute a violation of the law, there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction on anything more than a misdemeanor charge," Cole said in a written statement. "It would be an inappropriate use of already-limited resources to prosecute Orozco for a misdemeanor."

Orozco had been a volunteer campaign worker in charge of managing Babeu's campaign website and Twitter account. The sheriff said that after the relationship ended, Orozco retaliated by posting negative material online.

After the allegations surfaced, Babeu confirmed that he is gay and vehemently denied Orozco's assertions. He continued his bid for Congress before dropping out in May and to seek re-election. Babeu now faces an independent and Democratic candidate in the November general election.

During Friday's news conference, Babeu said his only regret was not disclosing his sexual orientation earlier. He also blamed the desire of political opponents and the media to destroy people.

He declined to answer questions.

This was the second investigation to close without charges for Babeu or his staff in recent months. The Pima County Attorney's Office said in July that it would not pursue charges against Tim Gaffney, Babeu's director of communications and grants, on allegations of public records tampering.

Investigators concluded that Gaffney had deleted thousands of public records, but they could not prove any malicious intent. Gaffney has said he deleted e-mails and calendar items to free up storage space after IT officials told him they had archived records.

Only one inquiry remains open.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating possible Hatch Act violations of Babeu and his top aides. The Hatch Act makes it illegal for certain government workers to participate in political activities.

Pinal Sheriff Paul Babeu exonerated

It managed to end his Congressional race, which I am thinking was probably the intent. Similar to the Meg Whitman debacle.