Trump announces pardon for former Virginia sheriff convicted of federal bribery charges
Then-Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins speaks to AFP during an interview at the Sheriff's Office in Culpeper
By Kit Maher, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced he is granting a “full and unconditional pardon” to a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of conspiracy, honest services fraud and bribery.
“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” Trump claimed in a Monday Truth Social post.
Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County, was set to report to jail Tuesday.
“He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’ This is why I, as President of the United States, see fit to end his unfair sentence, and grant Sheriff Jenkins a FULL and Unconditional Pardon. He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life,” Trump added.
In March, under the Trump administration, Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for “accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing numerous Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department,” according to a release from the US attorney’s office for the Western District of Virginia.
He was convicted by a jury in December 2024 of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
Jenkins accepted bribes in the form of campaign contributions from three co-defendants and others, including two undercover FBI agents, according to the US attorney’s office, and then rewarded them with the auxiliary deputy sheriff positions.
“Scott Jenkins violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him when he engaged in a cash-for-badges scheme,” acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee said in a statement at the time of his sentencing.
“We hold our elected law enforcement officials to a higher standard of conduct and this case proves that when those officials use their authority for unjust personal enrichment, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable. I am grateful to the FBI for their tireless work on this investigation,” Lee added.
Jenkins was elected sheriff of Culpeper County in 2011 and took office in January 2012. He was reelected in 2015 and 2019.
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