Super Bowl 2015 Updates: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Treats Maricopa Inmates During NFL Game; Will Allow Popcorn

America's toughest sheriff gave jail inmates a special treat.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio allowed televisions of Arizona's Maricopa County Jail to be tuned into CBS' telecast of the Super Bowl on Sunday evening for the 8,500 inmates, Fox News Latino reported. The TV sets are ordinarily tuned into the Weather Channel, C-Span, or the Food Network.

According to NY Times, Arpaio, 82, said that only inmates who are military veterans or have sentences shorter than a year under his leadership got popcorn during the game. That's around 700 inmates. The popcorns, coated with a cherry glaze powder, were paid for by theater producer Ira Gaines and were prepared by a number of inmates in the jail's kitchen facilities.

"While we serve vegetarian meals that only cost us $1 a day to feed each inmate, I've taken away meat, salt and butter, to save the taxpayers money. "So while they will get popcorn for this special event, they'll be eating it without salt or butter," Arpaio said prior to the game, as quoted by CBS 5 KPHO.

Sgt. Gary Miller, one prison official, told NY Times that the prison's normal TV programming "bores" the inmates (C-Span) and "reminds them of what they can't get" (The Food Network).

Arpaio also maintained that "he is not getting soft." NY Times reported.

"There's no constitutional reason I have to let them watch the game," he said, as quoted by the news outlet. "You never know what the prisoners will do. If we have any problem, we'll just put them in lockdown," Arpaio added.

It seems the prisoners behaved themselves as no such incident was reported.

The sheriff, known for his "brass-knuckle approach" and for making inmates sleep on pink bed sheets and wear pink underwear as a way to deflate their pride, allowed the prisoners to watch the game because "he was born in Springfield, Mass., and the New England Patriots are playing." He is not a Patriots fan, though, and favors the team of the Dallas Cowboys, instead, NY Times noted.

He even showed off a football signed by quarterback Tony Romo, and recounted a story when he once arrested a Patriots player for selling cocaine in Massachusetts in 1975, the news outlet added.

Arpaio is a seasoned self-promoter and campaigner. He has been elected six times by his dedicated supporters in Arizona. Though he allowed the game to be shown in jail, he watched the Super Bowl XLIX on television at home with his wife, the news outlet further reported.

"If I went to the game, I would probably have to pay $2,000, and if I took a freebie, it would be national headlines," he said, as reported by NY Times.