Former Democratic lawmaker Leezah Sun was sentenced to 24 months probation for violating a restraining order prohibiting her from contacting three Tolleson employees who accused her of harassment.
The three employees obtained a court order in 2023 prohibiting Sun from contacting them after she allegedly harassed them during a meeting and made threatening comments about a city lobbyist.
Earlier this month, a Phoenix judge found she violated that order.
According to a recording of the sentencing hearing, Sun’s attorney, Gabriel Hassen, claimed she violated the order during a break in a July 2024 hearing when she went into a nearby coffee shop.
Sun claimed she did not recognize the employees when she went to the coffee shop “due to their extreme change in appearance, something anyone could have mistaken under the same circumstances, and I am deeply and sincerely sorry.”
Sun asked the judge to show her leniency and claimed she was subject to harassment and bullying by her “enemies.” Hassen also said ongoing orders stopping her from contacting local officials could hurt her current work as Tolleson Unified High School District board member.
As a condition of the probation ordered by a Phoenix judge, Sun cannot contact the plaintiffs for two years.
The sentencing is the latest development in Sun’s tumultuous political career, which started when she was elected to the state Legislature in 2022.
While in office, she faced multiple allegations that she abused her authority during interactions with local officials and, in one case, was accused of interfering in a court-ordered child custody transfer on behalf of a friend.
She resigned from the Arizona House of Representatives in January 2024 as her fellow lawmakers prepared to vote to expel her after an ethics committee found she engaged in disorderly conduct in violation of House rules.
-
In a district with more than 80% nonwhite students, the community is calling for a more rigorous effort to protect schools from potential immigration enforcement activity. -
A bill advancing in the Arizona Legislature would direct local police to determine the immigration status of people they’ve arrested. If a person is undocumented, local police would be required to notify federal immigration officers. -
Arizona state lawmakers tend to vote in lockstep with their party on water issues, but when it comes to proposed Colorado River cuts, they may break ranks. -
Sen. Ruben Gallego says he wants to see an updated trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada that strengthens U.S. manufacturing and border communities. -
Almost two dozen rights organizations from the U.S. and elsewhere presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights this week in Guatemala City during a hearing about so-called third country deportations — which are done through deals the U.S. has made with almost 30 different countries.
