Don Stapley
The criminal investigation of Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley has seen more than its share of headlines in the past week. Chief among them was a story about the possible addition of a second criminal probe focusing on bribery allegations.
The public has seen few official statements from either the Maricopa County attorney’s or sheriff’s offices, the agencies handling the investigation. Yet information is still flowing as Valley media continue to “obtain” various documents from the investigation.
At least two stories in the past week appear to have possibly come from strategic leaks from the investigative agencies, though none are clear how the documents were obtained. See the following:
A Jan. 24 story in the Arizona Republic titled “Stapley files reveal state of his mind on inquiry.”
“This is going to be a nightmare,” Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley told a sheriff’s investigator when he learned he was being indicted on multiple criminal counts related to his financial-disclosure forms.
According to a transcript of the Dec. 2 interview obtained by The Arizona Republic, the high-profile Republican supervisor was incredulous that County Attorney Andrew Thomas had not talked to him before the case was taken to a grand jury.
A Jan. 24 story by the ABC 15 Investigators titled “County official facing indictments has been in trouble before.”
Documents obtained by ABC15 reveal Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley was fined $1,000 for failing to disclose information to the the Arizona Department of Real Estate.
Another story seems less likely to be based on leaked information but it also raises some questions. Take a look at a Jan. 22 story in the East Valley Tribune titled “Wolfswinkel office searched in Stapley probe.” Often, search warrant affidavits are readily available through through a public database at the county court clerk’s office. However, those affidavits are usually available several days after a search goes warrant is executed, not the day of.
Indicted Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley was likely paid more than $1 million by companies connected to land developer Conley Wolfswinkel, according to a sheriff’s affidavit that characterizes the case as a bribery investigation.
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However, the affidavit filed by detective Pat Roshetko of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office seeking the search warrant states investigators are searching for evidence that Stapley used his position to benefit Wolfswinkel. “In short – bribery or related crimes,” the affidavit states.
I’ll try to dig out more information on these as they become available.