Deputies stand guard this morning outside the office of Maricopa County supervisor Don Stapley as as investigators searched his government office. Photo by Nick R. Martin
Sheriff’s investigators raided the downtown Phoenix office of Maricopa County supervisor Don Stapley this morning, a search likely related to the ongoing criminal probe of the supervisor’s business dealings.
Deputies from the sheriff’s office could be seen standing watch outside Stapley’s office on the 10th floor of the county headquarters at 3rd Avenue and Jefferson Street. The board of supervisors’ spokesman, Richard de Uriarte, said investigators arrived at about 8 a.m. and had been shuttling boxes down to a van in the basement for hours.
Don Stapley
De Uriarte said he could not comment on Stapley’s behalf and the supervisor was not in the office. “The rest of the office is going on as usual, but it creates a little stir,” the spokesman said.
The sheriff’s office could not be reached for comment. Stapley’s attorney, Paul Charlton, declined to comment.
Stapley, who represents the county’s Dist. 2, was indicted in December on suspicion of 118 crimes related to the way he filed public documents to disclose his outside business interests. Stapley is accused of concealing a number of multi-million-dollar business transactions with land baron Conley Wolfswinkel. A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, said he was unaware the raid was taking place this morning.
Stapley has pleaded not guilty to the charges.