President Donald Trump issued a full pardon on Monday to Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of bribery.
Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County in Northern Virginia, was convicted in December on charges related to his acceptance of more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for auxiliary deputy sheriff appointments. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in March and was set to report to prison on Tuesday.
“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump said in a Monday post on his Truth Social platform. “He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”
Jenkins was convicted on one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services mail and wire fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving public funds.
Prosecutors alleged that Jenkins accepted bribes in the form of cash and campaign contributions from multiple people, including two who were undercover FBI agents, and said he offered them police badges and credentials despite not being trained or vetted.
“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 news release after the 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.”
Trump claimed Jenkins was a victim of a “weaponized” Justice Department under the Biden administration.
“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’”
Before Jenkins was found guilty, three of the men involved had already pleaded guilty to their role in the bribery scheme.
Jenkins was the Culpeper County sheriff for more than 10 years. He lost his reelection bid in 2023 amid the legal drama.
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Jenkins’s pardon comes after he pleaded with Trump for clemency. In a webinar last month, the former sheriff said he did not have the funds to appeal his conviction and claimed Trump would pardon him if he knew the details of the case, according to NBC News Washington.
“I truly believe if I could get an hour of time with someone in the administration and lay out some facts with my attorney, and I really believe if they could hear the other side, which I couldn’t get in front of the jury — I believe whole heartedly in the president,” he said. “I believe if he heard the information, I know he would help if he knew my story.”
