By Matthew Holloway |

In the tumultuous race for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the incumbent Republican Rachel Mitchell is facing attacks from both sides as fellow Republican Gina Godbehere, a former bureau chief for the MCAO and former prosecutor in Goodyear was first to launch a blistering campaign. However, by comparison the findings of investigative reporters against Godbehere are far more serious than those she’s levied against Mitchell.

The victor in the upcoming July primary will face off against Democrat Tamika Wooten, a judge pro tem, former chief prosecutor in Glendale, and a municipal judge in multiple jurisdictions. But before Wooten has even taken the stage, the GOP primary campaign has already been marked by the weapon of choice for any Attorney’s race: ‘sweetheart’ plea deals. Godbehere fired the first shot, blasting Mitchell for a plea deal with former director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, Charles Ryan in a radio interview with KFNN’s J.D. Hayworth as reported by the Phoenix New Times on April 9th.

Godbehere prefaced the issue telling Hayworth, “The problem with the county attorney is she’s wedged between a Democratic governor and a Democratic attorney general, and she has liberal staff that are running that office.” She later landed the rhetorical blow, “When you allow sweetheart deals, like in the Ryan case or pointing the gun at police, and you’re not holding offenders accountable, this is the problem we’re having.”

As noted by New Times, Wooten also latched onto the plea deal telling the outlet, “As a prosecutor, justice is supposed to be blind, and (Mitchell’s) not making her decisions that way. I think there was definitely some favoritism based on Ryan’s former position.”

It didn’t take long though for the investigative reporters at the Arizona Daily Independent to uncover a troubling unsolicited plea deal issued by Godbehere during her tenure with the MCAO for 52-year-old Laquanza Young, also known as Quan Chaney before changing his name in 2019. As reported by the Independent, Young (then known as Chaney) was arrested in 2009 for attempting to rob his former employer Cricket Wireless, threatening a pregnant former co-worker at gunpoint while doing so. He had been previously terminated by Cricket on suspicion of theft and for weeks ahead of the robbery reportedly sent threatening emails to his ex-employer.

Young was arrested and was looking at 3 counts of aggravated assault, burglary, and armed robbery charges, class three and two felonies respectively, and had a lengthy criminal record. Depending on mitigating facts he should’ve been looking at up to 30 years in prison. Confusingly, Young even expressed in pretrial statement that he had no interest in a plea deal. That was at least until Godbehere took the case.

According to the Independent, “Godbehere promptly gave Young a five-week continuance for his trial date, and then offered him a plea deal. Instead of felony charges for aggravated assault, burglary, and armed robbery, Godbehere offered Young lesser charges of disorderly conduct with a handgun (a class six felony) and burglary in the first degree with a handgun (a class three felony). Minimum sentencing under the revised charges amounted to three years, or a maximum of eight years. Godbehere personally signed off on the plea deal.”

Young (then Chaney) was sentenced to just 10 months in prison, was out in five, and he only paid $400 in restitution to the pregnant mother he threatened.

Already, this would be egregious. But on March 21, 2024, Young now under his new moniker, drew a firearm on Scottsdale Police officers who had pulled him over during a routine traffic stop. The suspect was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen at the time of the traffic stop according to AZCentral. Near Scottsdale Road and Cactus Young exited the car rapidly, drew his gun and opened fire on two officers who returned fire and struck him fatally. He was declared dead at the scene.

A man who was only on the street due to an unsolicited plea deal from Godbehere, was killed just weeks ago while he attempted to murder two Police officers in the line of duty.

Without expressing an opinion regarding the plea deal that Mitchell offered Ryan, a charge based on an incident in which no one was harmed being reduced in light of a dedicated civil servant’s years of service doesn’t strain imagination. But an unsolicited, astoundingly light plea bargain, putting a known criminal back on the street who would later die attempting to gun down two police officers is quite another matter.

To quote Godbehere’s own words, “When you allow sweetheart deals (…) and you’re not holding offenders accountable, this is the problem we’re having.”

Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.