Conservative Arizona Sheriff Had Illegal Alien Boyfriend

[LechoZX]

Would this be a sort of double closet?

Further inquiry on Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu sought

Supervisor, activist seek information on claims of threats

by Rebekah L. Sanders and Lindsey Collom - Feb. 20, 2012 10:05 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

A Pinal County supervisor and an immigrant-rights group are calling for investigations into Sheriff Paul Babeu, even as the attorney for the embattled lawman said Babeu will not ask for an outside review to clear his name.

Investigation request
Babeu, who won office promising county voters that he would clean house after government scandals and has touted his law-enforcement credentials in his bid for Congress, has repeatedly denied allegations that he threatened a Mexican ex-boyfriend with deportation to keep him quiet about their relationship.

Those allegations surfaced Friday in a newspaper story that also described suggestive photos posted by Babeu on dating websites and intimidating text messages he allegedly sent. The resulting media firestorm raised questions about the alleged threats and about Babeu's personal conduct.

Andrew Hall, a California-based police-procedure and administration consultant, said other lawmen who have claimed to be wrongfully accused have asked for independent investigations -- and subsequently been cleared.

But Chris DeRose, Babeu's attorney and campaign manager, said that if the ex-boyfriend, identified only as Jose, believes his allegations against Babeu are credible, he should be the one to take them to law enforcement for investigation. The sheriff, he said, will not.

"This is all just silliness," DeRose said. "It's not even something we've seriously considered."

Although Babeu claims that he, too, is a victim -- in this case, of identity theft by Jose -- Babeu has also declined to press charges.

Pete Rios, chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors and a Babeu critic, said he hopes to meet today with the County Attorney's Office regarding alleged abuses of power and misuse of county resources. He said another option would be a review by the county Office of Internal Audit.

"We're looking for answers as well," he said Monday.

Rios said one challenge will be determining which agency could review the case objectively.

He said Maricopa County could appear biased because of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's past support of Babeu, while the next- largest county in Arizona, Pima, could be problematic because of past tension between Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and Babeu.

DeRose said Babeu has fully answered the allegations against him through media interviews and a lengthy press conference he held the day after the story was first published in the Phoenix New Times. Babeu confirmed he is gay but denied abusing his authority to intimidate the former boyfriend.

Babeu also denied that he sent explicit text messages to Jose from his county-issued phone, a potential abuse of county resources, and has fought back against criticism that he used poor judgment as a public official and lawman by sending sexually charged photos to Jose after posting on a gay singles website.

Bryan Martyn, a county supervisor who calls the sheriff a friend, said he stands by Babeu and wants any wrongdoing to be exposed.

"If there are criminal allegations here, we can pursue those," Martyn said, "but I don't see any reason we should ask the sheriff to step down based on an allegation."

Any resulting investigation would likely be conducted by an outside agency, such as the Arizona Department of Public Safety or the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, said Kostas Kalaitzidis, a Pinal County attorney spokesman. Some political observers have floated the possibility of an inquiry by the Arizona Attorney General's Office or the U.S. Department of Justice.

Lydia Guzman, director of the Phoenix-based immigrant-rights group Respect Respeto, sent a letter Monday to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into potential abuse of power.

"These types of threats and acts of intimidation send a horrible message to the migrant community that they cannot look to their law-enforcement agencies for protection when they are victims of a crime," she wrote. "It is my feeling that neither an elected official nor a law-enforcement officer should abuse their positions to make such threats upon an individual in exchange for their silence, and this is why I am respectfully requesting an investigation into this matter."

Possible inquiries

If a formal complaint is lodged, law enforcement could choose not to investigate the allegations, Hall said.

"What we assume is if those allegations were brought forward in good faith and are reasonable, law enforcement would investigate," Hall said. But discretion over opening investigations is helpful in some instances. "There are people who will come forward and say, 'I saw a Martian land and steal money from a cash register, and I want you to investigate that theft.'"

Although handled differently, the "should and should nots" of conduct are the same for appointed and elected officials, Hall said.

"A police officer, whether appointed or elected, should never use their office for personal favor," he said. "It would be wrong in every circumstance ... for a police officer to threaten some form of criminal process or some form of legal process for personal gain."

DPS spokesman Bart Graves said Sunday that, to his knowledge, no one had asked the agency to look into Babeu's alleged misconduct. Amy Rezzonico, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Tom Horne, on Monday said the same thing.

Until an investigation takes place, Hall said, the public should be aware that "things are seldom as they're first presented."

"It's important that there not be a rush to judgment and that there be an investigation," he said. "Police officers and elected officials are vulnerable to complaints that have an impact on their career, and these things can be career ending and they can be significant. It's important things be done correctly, incrementally and procedurally."

Roger Vanderpool, retired DPS director and former Pinal County sheriff, said authorities need to investigate not only the allegations of abuse of power and intimidation by Babeu but any potential wrongdoing by Jose. Babeu may be a victim in this, too, Vanderpool said.

Until the truth surfaces, the issue will continue to be a distraction, he warned.

"For the sake of the citizens of Pinal County, the law-enforcement community, for Sheriff Babeu and Jose, whoever Jose is, there needs to be an investigation to answer all these questions," Vanderpool said. "It's obviously got the Sheriff's Office in turmoil, and it distracts from the duties of employees out there, and we need to lay it all to rest so people can get on with their business."

Vanderpool said a deputy accused of the type of allegations Babeu faces would likely be removed from patrol and placed on administrative duty for the duration of an internal-affairs inquiry. Paid administrative leave is an option if there's concern of possible harm to the public or systems within the agency, but Vanderpool said that doesn't seem to be applicable here.

Arizona law-enforcement officers have lost their jobs before in sex scandals.

Chandler police Officer Ronald Dible was fired in 2002 after department officials discovered he and his wife had posted sexually explicit photos and videos on a porn site and then lied about it to investigators. Dible appealed his firing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and lost.

Ethics campaign

A former Chandler policeman and retired military officer, Babeu has touted his law-and-order background in his quest for the Sheriff's Office and more recently in his bid for Congress in Arizona's conservative 4th District, which covers most of the northwestern part of the state.

Babeu said at the news conference that he has served ethically throughout his life.

"Everything that I've done in my public life and in my performance of duty, in my sworn oath, at any level in my entire career, whether in the military or as a law-enforcement officer, has been not only fully honorable, (but) has complied with all the law and led by example," he said.

Babeu, the first Republican in Pinal County to be elected sheriff, came to the seat in 2008 by running on a platform that highlighted "ethical lapses" on the part of Pinal County leaders. He cited former County Manager Stanley Griffis, who spent nearly three years in prison on a 2007 theft conviction for using his position to steal about $600,000 in public funds.

In April 2009, Babeu called for the county recorder to resign for knowingly hiring a felon later accused of stealing customer identities while working at the Recorder's Office.

With such incidents, "a piece of the trust that our honest employees have earned from residents is lost," Babeu wrote in an opinion piece in The Arizona Republic in 2009. "The good work done by our government employees is needlessly called into question by the bad deeds of people like this."

At least a dozen of Babeu's own employees have been fired as a result of his efforts to root out corruption in Pinal County, including a jail commander who lied about cocaine use on a previous job application and a sergeant accused of not properly impounding evidence.

The most high-profile was Babeu's January 2011 firing of Louie Puroll, a 14-year-deputy who received departmental awards after a purported gunbattle with smugglers in 2010.

Puroll bragged to a Phoenix New Times reporter that Mexican cartel members had asked him to work for them and said a friend offered to murder the journalist in retaliation for news stories that questioned the veracity of the deputy's account that he had been shot by smugglers. Puroll's termination hinged on suspected violations of 10 departmental policies involving issues of ethics, truthfulness and competency. Puroll is fighting the decision but has not yet appeared before the county's merit board.

Conflict

Babeu has been reluctant to seek charges against his former boyfriend for criminal acts Babeu alleges he perpetrated.

Babeu accuses Jose of accessing the sheriff's re-election websites last year without permission and impersonating Babeu by posting damaging messages on the sites.

Babeu's attorney DeRose sent a cease-and-desist letter to Jose, threatening legal action if he didn't erase the messages and return control of the websites to the campaign.

When Jose complied, Babeu said, he felt pressing charges was not necessary.

Babeu also said he had every reason to believe the ex-boyfriend, who came from Mexico, was in the country legally.


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