Less than three weeks after President Donald Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for a criminal contempt of court charge, it is being reported the Department of Justice is backing his attempt to have his conviction thrown out.
BuzzFeed News reported lawyers with the Department of Justice filed papers Monday that said Arpaio's pardon essentially canceled out the criminal case against him.
Arpaio, 85, was found to be in contempt of court in July over allegations that his department participated in racial profiling. He was never sentenced, and Trump pardoned him at the end of August.
"Having accepted the presidential pardon, defendant now moves to vacate the verdict and all other orders and to dismiss this case with prejudice," the DOJ wrote. "A pardon issued before entry of final judgment moots a criminal case because the defendant will face no consequences that result from the guilty verdict. Accordingly, the government agrees that the Court should vacate all orders and dismiss the case as moot."
Arpaio served as the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, from 1993-2016.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.