Private Investigator Constable Campaign: Complaint Questions Legality of Expenses

by Lindsey Collum, Sep. 10, 2012, Arizona Republic News

Authorities say a self-styled border-sheriffs group that took steps to legitimize its support of a write-in constable candidate in Pinal County has not gone far enough.
 
Gila County prosecutors investigating a campaign-finance complaint against the group say that although Southwest Border Sheriffs is now a registered political committee, it missed an Aug. 31 deadline to submit an accounting of its expenses leading up to the Aug. 28 primary.

Bryan Chambers, chief deputy attorney for Gila County, set the deadline in an Aug. 22 e-mail to the committee’s chairman and treasurer. A copy of the e-mail was provided to The Arizona Republic as part of a public-records request. In the e-mail, Chambers cited state law enumerating what records the committee treasurer must keep and when they should be turned over.

“Pursuant to this requirement, please provide to me the name and address of every person or entity to whom Southwest Border Sheriffs made any expenditure advocating the election of Ryan Sudrick for Constable,” Chambers wrote to committee chairman Mike Presnell and committee treasurer Chad Elliget. He also asked for the date, amount and purpose of each expenditure.

In addition to Sudrick, Southwest Border Sheriffs endorsed Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, county-attorney candidate Lando Voyles and supervisor candidate Cheryl Chase. It also endorsed Republicans running for sheriff in Pima and Gila counties.

A campaign-finance violation is a civil penalty punishable by up to three times the offending amount.

The requirement stands despite Sudrick’s primary loss. He was among six write-in candidates seeking the Republican nomination for constable of the Apache Junction Justice Court. Ron LeDuc, whom county supervisors appointed in July to fill a vacancy, won the primary and will be unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election.

Records show Presnell and Elliget registered their committee with the Pinal County Elections Department on Aug. 17, after Chambers made multiple attempts to reach them by phone and e-mail regarding a campaign-finance complaint involving Southwest Border Sheriffs.

The group had been accused of paying for “hundreds” of signs for Sudrick posted in Apache Junction and the San Tan Valley area.

The complaint, filed by one of Sudrick’s competitors, questioned the legality of the expense.

At the time, Southwest Border Sheriffs was not a registered political committee with the state or county, and Sudrick had filed a $500 threshold statement, meaning his campaign wouldn’t spend or receive more than $500.

Anything more than that would have required him to file a statement of organization and submit campaign-finance reports.

Chambers was assigned the case shortly after the Pinal County Attorney’s Office sent it to Gila County for investigation, citing a potential conflict of interest.

Presnell wrote Chambers on Aug. 20 and said Sudrick had “no idea some of us would be buying and putting up his signs for his run for constable.”

“We have not even been billed for the signs yet and do not know what the total invoice will be,” Presnell wrote. “We in no way did this to influence any election what so ever. None other than to help Ryan out.”

Sudrick, a licensed private investigator, didn’t address whether he knew about the signs paid for by Southwest Border Sheriffs in e-mail records obtained by The Republic.

He responded Aug. 17 to Chambers’ two e-mails requesting campaign receipts and an explanation for what he knew about Presnell’s signs.

“I attached a pic of my order,” Sudrick wrote, referring to a $487.77 invoice for 40 small lawn signs and 1,000 postcards. “That’s all I have spent. Call me if you have any other questions. Thanks.”

Chambers said the investigation is ongoing.