Opinion ID: 1037770
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Civil RICO Suit

Text: Thomas and Aubuchon filed a federal civil racketeering suit against Stapley and others in late 2009. A number of people had advised them not to file the suit. Aubuchon knew that an outside law firm had evaluated the viability of a civil RICO action in October 2009, and had concluded that “there was insufficient evidence for such an action.” A RICO expert in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Peter Spaw, informed Thomas and Aubuchon that there was no evidence to justify a civil RICO action. Spaw refused to assist in drafting the complaint. MCAO supervisors Barnett Lotstein and Phil MacDonnell also told Thomas that “the RICO Suit was not appropriate or viable based on the facts and 8 STAPLEY V. PESTALOZZI circumstances.” Despite these warnings, Thomas and Aubuchon actively participated in drafting the complaint before filing it on December 1, 2009. Lotstein and MacDonnell — who had “believed that Thomas had heeded their advice not to pursue” the RICO suit — learned about the filing only after Sheriff Arpaio and Thomas announced it to the media. Sheriff Arpaio and Thomas were the plaintiffs in the civil RICO suit. The complaint listed Thomas and Aubuchon as plaintiffs’ attorneys. Aubuchon signed the complaint. The complaint named fourteen individuals as defendants, as well as the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and a law firm. The individual defendants included Stapley, other County Board members, state court judges, and county employees. The general theory of the RICO complaint was that Stapley and the other RICO defendants had conspired to implement the Court Tower Project and to thwart Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio’s legitimate criminal investigations into the activities of Stapley and others. The complaint alleged that the RICO defendants cut funding to the MCAO, intimidated and retaliated against prosecutors, improperly evaded surveillance devices, filed frivolous State Bar complaints against Thomas and his deputies, and committed various criminal acts. The complaint further alleged that the judicial defendants had been biased against Thomas and had issued unfair rulings against him. The complaint generally alleged two types of injuries. First, it alleged that defendants cut funding for the MCAO, thus depriving Sheriff Arpaio of legal services and preventing the MCAO from fulfilling its duties. Second, the complaint asserted injuries to Thomas and other MCAO attorneys STAPLEY V. PESTALOZZI 9 related to the RICO defendants’ alleged efforts to deprive them of their law licenses by reporting them to the bar association. The complaint sought treble damages. Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio voluntarily dismissed the RICO suit on March 11, 2010, less than four months after filing. The court had taken no action on the suit. The dismissal notice stated that “having referred this matter to the Public Integrity Section (“PIN”) of the United States Department of Justice and having received their assurances that PIN will review the matter, Plaintiffs [Sheriff Arpaio] and [Thomas] . . . hereby voluntarily dismiss” the case. Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio held a press conference where Thomas announced “victory” in the RICO suit. With the approval of Sheriff Arpaio and Thomas, Sheriff Arpaio’s attorney, Robert Driscoll, stated at the conference that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) had agreed to investigate the RICO Lawsuit defendants. DOJ had in fact made no such agreement, but had informed Driscoll only that Thomas and Sheriff Arpaio could submit a tip like any other citizen. DOJ issued a statement two days later, rejecting the press conference’s characterization of events and stating that it was “dismayed to learn” that information received from DOJ had been “used as a platform for a press conference.”