Two weeks ago former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for years as Arizona and America's toughest law enforcement agent on illegal immigration, was found guilty of criminal contempt for refusing to comply with orders handed down by a federal judge.
Now as he faces potential jail time, Fox News is reporting President Trump is thinking about pardoning Arpaio, who campaigned for him during the 2016 presidential election.
“I am seriously considering a pardon for Sheriff Arpaio,” the president said Sunday, during a conversation with Fox News at his club in Bedminster, N.J. “He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. He’s a great American patriot and I hate to see what has happened to him.”
Trump said the pardon could happen in the next few days, should he decide to do so.
Arpaio, 85, was convicted by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton of misdemeanor contempt of court for willfully disregarding an Arizona judge’s order in 2011 to stop the anti-immigrant traffic patrols. Arpaio had maintained the law enforcement patrols for 17 months thereafter.
A reminder from the campaign trail:
Trump and Arpaio were also partners in the pursuit of President Obama's birth certificate.