Sheriff Joe Arpaio indicted on contempt charge

A federal court on Tuesday indicted Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for criminal contempt of court in a case centered on racial profiling.

Arpaio, 84, could serve up to six months in jail if convicted, but would not be barred from continuing to serve in his position.

{mosads}He will not be arrested and booked, and plans to plead not guilty to the charge, according to his lawyer, Mel McDonald, the Associated Press reported. 

Arpaio has been the sheriff of Maricopa County since 1993, rising to a national figure for his aggressive immigration enforcement. He is prominent supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.

He has long been a target of Democrats and Hispanic civil organizations, but has consistently won his elections in the Phoenix-area Maricopa County with over 50 percent of the votes.

This year could be different.

An Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll released last week showed Arpaio, a Republican, 15 points behind challenger Paul Penzone. 

Seeking to capitalize on the contempt charge against him, a Hispanic civil rights group announced the launch of a documentary film Wednesday criticizing Arpaio’s immigration raids.

The contempt charge stems from a 2011 court order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow that required Arpaio to stop racially profiling Latinos.

Arpaio was found to have disobeyed the order, but claimed his disobedience was unintentional. Snow said Arpaio disobeyed the order to help his 2012 reelection campaign. 

Penzone, who lost to Arpaio in 2012, told the AP the disobeyed court order was “another example of the sheriff putting his own personal objectives ahead of the best interest of the community at our expense.”