For boxing manager Joe Diaz, the arrest of Peter McKinn is bittersweet.
In boxing, most fights only last a couple of rounds, but the fight between Diaz and McKinn has lasted several years.
"I never thought it would happen," Diaz said. "In the ring, at least you know who you're punching and what you are going to receive, but this is behind your back...The only part that's missing is all the other people that are connected to Peter that made this and allowed this to happen, going into the judges, intimidating judges, fixing the cases."
It may sound like a conspiracy theory or something out of a novel, but the case against McKinn offers a glimpse into the shadowy world of boxing, politics, and a criminal investigation involving some of the most powerful politicians in the state.
SEE PHOTOS OF McKINN'S ARREST AND ARRAIGNMENT IN THE ATTACHED SLIDESHOWThe investigation by the Organized Crime Division of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office used wiretaps, video tapes, and interrogations.
In an audio taped interview by detectives of a former employee of McKinn, the man said, "I was the in-between guy."
During the conversation, the former employee talked about McKinn's friendship and close ties to Earl Wilcox, the husband of Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and a former senior aide to former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano.
"Earl, I don't know, he had a way of doing things," the man told detectives. "More or less like take care of a favor for you, you know. If you have problems with tickets or whatever, Earl would help you out, you know, go ahead and find a judge that it's assigned to and obviously that's what happened with Pete in there, you know."
McKinn's former business partner was referring to an old criminal case back in April 2005.
Charges had been filed against McKinn alleging the promoter bounced a $5,000 check to Diaz and one of his fighters and a warrant was issued for McKinn's arrest.
Judge Carlos Mendoza told investigators he dismissed the warrant after Earl Wilcox showed up in his chambers unannounced.
"He did say something to the effect of these are bogus charges and it should be dropped or dismissed, something to that effect," Mendoza said.
Just moments before Wilcox asked the judge to squash the warrant for McKinn, detectives allege Wilcox was asking McKinn for several tickets to an upcoming event.
"There was a fight in Tucson that me and Pete were working on," the associate told detectives. "He was asking about getting some extra - because we would give him VIP credentials to see if we could get him some extra ones."
But Earl Wilcox wasn't the only one allegedly involved with the criminal case against against Peter McKinn.
According to documents released to ABC15 by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Mary Rose Wilcox called the County Attorney's Office several times, demanding to speak with the prosecutor and insisting the case be dismissed.
The documents show she faxed over a copy of a cash receipt and an affidavit claiming Joe Diaz had been paid $5,000 cash.
But detectives got McKinn on wire taps admitting the receipt and the affidavit were bogus.
McKinn was arrested late last week.
After he was taken into custody, he told detectives, "Sometimes in the boxing business, when we do things we do them within our own laws."
McKinn insists Diaz got paid and told detectives, "Earl ain't gonna go to court with me."
McKinn is currently being held at the Fourth Avenue Jail, indicted by a grand jury on five felonies including conspiracy, fraudulent schemes, theft, and forgery.
He denied our repeated requests for comment.
Earl Wilcox declined to comment and told ABC15 iNVESTIGATOR Josh Bernstein his wife, Mary Rose Wilcox, was out of town and had nothing to say about the case.
Documents obtained by ABC15 reveal the Wilcoxes are also the targets of a very broad ongoing criminal investigation involving everything from their restaurant at Sky Harbor Airport to their roles as public officials.
