Paperwork for Joe Arpaio's pardon has officially been filed in court and his lawyers are asking that the verdict be vacated in the former sheriff's contempt case.
Included in the documents, filed Monday, was Arpaio's official pardon signed by President Donald Trump. The president announced he would pardon Arpaio on Friday.
The pardon means Arpaio won't be punished after he was found guilty last month of intentionally ignoring a court order to stop enforcing federal immigration law. The 85-year-old sheriff was facing up to 6 months in jail.
However, a pardon does not generally reverse the courts verdict in a case -- something Arpaio and his attorneys could have attempted to do through appeals.
Arpaio attorneys addressed this in the motion filed Monday saying because they will never have the opportunity to seek a reversal of the courts verdict through appeal, "it is only fair the court vacate its verdict and all other rulings in the case."
Trump hinted at a pardon for Arpaio during his campaign rally in Phoenix, saying: "I will make a prediction. He is going to be just fine, OK?"
Arpaio, a big supporter of Trump's during the 2016 campaign, said he was happy and wanted to thank the president.
In the documents, Arpaio's attorneys said if the court does not vacate the verdict they would "certainly pursue" appeals which would be, they wrote, a "waste of everyone's time and money."
