Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System voted to give Democratic former Apache County Attorney Michael Whiting a $5,700 monthly pension last month. Whiting was removed from office after a grand jury indicted him on multiple public corruption charges, centered around the misuse of public funds.
The grand jury also indicted Whiting’s wife Joyclynn, who served as the county school superintendent, and Daryl Greer, the county attorney’s lead investigator, last August. Four of his key employees, including his Chief Deputy Celeste Robertson, obtained restraining orders against Whiting. On September 30, Whiting agreed to an interim suspension of his law license. As a result of the suspension, Attorney General Kris Mayes took over control of the office on November 1.
One of the counts in the indictment was for harassment. It alleged that Whiting and Greer intimidated Fernando Madrid out of running for Apache County Superintendent of Schools. A second count was for sending a threatening or anonymous letter, alleging that the pair sent Madrid an anonymous letter threatening criminal prosecution against him if he did not drop out.
The counts for misuse of funds, class 4 felonies, cited the purchase of a 2023 Ford Expedition for $80,000 using funds from his wife’s budget at the Apache County Superintendent of Schools’ office. However, the indictment said Whiting ended up driving the vehicle, not his wife, who is also a Democrat.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
Subscribe to email updates from the Arizona Sun Times