IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
“Overseeing inhumane abuse of special needs teens. Misusing and spending taxpayer dollars lavishly. FBI looking into potential corruption. Republicans should be ashamed of supporting someone who is so unfit to hold public office,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law.
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Sources: FBI issues subpoena for records tied to use of RICO funds by Sheriff Babeu, PCSO
ABC15
The FBI has issued a subpoena related to the use of RICO funds by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and his office, according to sources.
The sources, which include a county official, said the subpoena was recently sent to the Arizona Public Safety Foundation, a unique non-profit closely tied to the sheriff’s office that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in seized criminal funds.
One source said he believed the subpoena was issued as part of a grand jury proceeding.
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RICO seizures and spending by Sheriff Babeu, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and county attorney’s office have been heavily criticized by several watchdog groups during the past year.
In July, the American Civil Liberties Union and international law firm Perkins Coie jointly filed a lawsuit against the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and the Pinal County Attorney’s Office. The lawsuit claimed the county agencies were misusing RICO funds and funneling money through the Arizona Public Safety Foundation.
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Sources: FBI serves subpoena over Pinal RICO funds
Case Grande Dispatch
FLORENCE — Multiple sources have confirmed the FBI delivered a subpoena to the Pinal County Treasurer regarding seized criminal funds on Wednesday.
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RICO funds typically refer to money obtained through anti-drug or anti-gang, collectively called anti-racketeering, efforts as well as civil forfeiture. They are intended to be applied to further anti-racketeering activities, but their use on some questionable expenditures has raised concerns among voters and watchdog organizations.
Requests for such funds pass through the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and must be approved by Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles, a political ally of Sheriff Paul Babeu.
The AZPSF has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in RICO monies that critics have called a “slush fund” for the sheriff and his department.
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“NEWS FLASH,” wrote Harold Vangilder on the Casa Grande Republican Forum Facebook page, “The FBI has just dropped a subpoena off in Florence to get copies of all information related to RICO and the interactions between the sheriff’s office and the foundation that has been the largest recipient of RICO funds. Wonder what shoe drops next?”
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“The voting public is just tired of this stuff,” he told the Dispatch. “You ought to be what you say you are. And good, bad or indifferent, if Paul Babeu is a Republican, then I’m the queen of Sheba.”
The Pinal County sheriff’s former supporter laid the blame for allegations of RICO abuse that have haunted PCSO in recent years on Babeu’s shoulders and pointed to Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles as a willing participant.