Ex-Pinal official focus of hearing

Disgraced former Pinal County Manager Stanley Griffis is likely to receive five to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Thursday, if a judge adopts a pre-sentencing report prepared by Maricopa County Superior Court staff.

However, both prosecution and defense will have one last chance to influence the decision of sentencing Judge Thomas O’Toole during an “aggravation/mitigation hearing” Thursday in which witnesses for both sides are expected to testify about Griffis’ character and health.

It’s possible even Griffis himself could take the stand to plead for leniency.

The pre-sentencing report recommends a term of incarceration of at least five years based on three felonies that include fraud and theft, the most serious of six crimes to which Griffis pleaded guilty in late January.

Special prosecutor Richard Romley has asked the court for a sentence of 10 years in prison followed by seven years’ probation in a sentencing memorandum filed April 20, arguing that anything less would undermine the public’s faith in government accountability.

But the sentencing memo filed by Griffis attorney Lee Stein cites the former county manager’s poor health and sterling record prior to his admitted crimes and asks the judge to keep Griffis out of prison.

Stein’s memo includes more than a dozen testimonials from friends, family and business associates in which Griffis, 64, is described as honest, hardworking and generous.

In one letter, signed by El Dorado Holdings principal and Pinal County developer Mike Ingram, Griffis is described as a tough but fair administrator who had the county’s best interests at heart.

“He was instrumental in achieving fiscal stability to Pinal County during a very difficult financial time for the County,” Ingram’s letter states. “He was also very successful in finding funding for public work projects, including a new County jail facility, without tapping the already stressed county coffers.”

Romley said it is inappropriate for attorneys to talk about which witnesses they will call during an aggravation/mitigation hearing, but in general such hearings give both sides one last chance to explain to a judge why they think a criminal sentence should be made more or less severe.

He said judges do not have to follow the recommendations of the court’s report, nor do they have to limit themselves to the maximum sentence requested by the prosecution or the minimum requested by the defense.

Griffis pleaded guilty January 31 to six felony counts including theft of more than $425,000 from a developer-donated county transportation fund. He has agreed to pay nearly $640,000 in restitution and other costs, $275,000 of which is due Thursday.

The maximum allowable punishment for Griffis’ crimes is 51 years in prison.

The hearing and sentencing are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Judge O’Toole’s courtroom, Maricopa County Superior Court Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson, Fourth Floor, in Phoenix.