Inmate plotted to assassinate Arpaio

Detectives: Inmate plotted to assassinate Arpaio

Posted: Jul 11, 2012 3:58 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 11, 2012 4:00 PM PDT

PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says 1 of 3 maximum security inmates arrested for plotting to kill an inmate also planned to assassinate Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

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Samuel Matta

VIDEO: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/19...clipId=7494399

Detectives arrested on Wednesday 29-year-old Samuel Matta, an inmate in the state prison in Florence, on charges that he and two other inmates from the Sheriff's 4th Avenue Jail conspired to kill another inmate.

According to investigators, detectives were tipped off that Matta was planning to publicly assassinate Arpaio using a high powered rifle.

Authorities says Matta believed that the Arpaio was personally responsible for the deportation of some his family members to Mexico from their home in El Mirage, Ariz.

The investigation into the Arpaio murder plot then led to the plan to kill another inmate.

It was unclear if Matta had an attorney.

Detectives: Inmate plotted to assassinate Arpaio - FOX 10 News - Phoenix, AZ | KSAZ-TV

MCSO: Inmate plotted to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Posted: 07/11/2012
Last Updated: 5 hours and 31 minutes ago
By: Deborah Stocks

PHOENIX - Three inmates at the Maricopa County Jail have been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio and a fellow inmate.

According to a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office news release, two of the men are members of the Mexican Mafia and are in jail on felony charges.

Mark Cons, 33, and Rudolfo Santos, 37, were served with arrest warrants by sheriff's detectives on Wednesday morning.

A third man, 29-year-old Samuel Matta, is a member of a documented street gang and incarcerated at the state prison in Florence, authorities said.

All three are charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of another jail inmate.

The sheriff's office said the investigation began in March after detectives were tipped off by an inmate that Samuel Matta was allegedly planning to publicly assassinate Sheriff Joe Arpaio using a high powered rifle.

He planned to carry out the assassination plot once he was released from jail because he believed the sheriff was personally responsible for the deportation of some of his family members to Mexico from their home in El Mirage, according to the news release.

The investigation led to another plot in which the three suspects were conspiring to kill another inmate, a rival gang member.

The entire investigation unfolded in April, a month which saw higher than usual levels of gang and racial tensions inside the Fourth Avenue Jail, authorities said.

At that time Sheriff Joe Arpaio called for a two-week lock down of the maximum security jail in downtown Phoenix.

MCSO: Inmate plotted to kill Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Meanwhile, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano, and Barack Obama still insist Mata and his deported relatives remain firmly on their November voter rolls ..