President Donald Trump pardoned a former Virginia sheriff who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery charges earlier this year.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday that he would pardon former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was sentenced in March for deputizing individuals in exchange for cash payments.
“He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life,” Trump wrote.
Prosecutors said Jenkins accepted more than $75,000 in a “cash for badges” scheme in 2022.
Two of the auxiliary deputy sheriffs that Jenkins accepted money from were undercover FBI agents, who testified they gave Jenkins envelopes with $5,000 and $10,000 cash, respectively.
A jury convicted Jenkins in December 2024 on one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
Trump called the Department of Justice “corrupt” and blamed judges appointed by former President Joe Biden for weaponizing their authority over Jenkins’ case, in which he said they refused to accept Jenkins’ offer of “exculpatory evidence.”
He added that Jenkins is “a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail.”
During his sentencing, Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee said Jenkins “violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him.”
Scott MacFarlane, CBS News’ Justice correspondent, told WTOP that the president’s move was “not at all surprising.”
“Scott Jenkins was a longtime, vocal supporter of President Trump, a fixture in terms of a campaign surrogate for Donald Trump in Virginia, and appeared at the White House during Trump’s first term,” he said. “(There was) no evidence of there being any misconduct or impropriety in the trial. But this pardon takes effect now.”
Jenkins’ co-defendants also pleaded guilty for their role in the scheme.
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
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