Trump Grants Pardon to Sheriff Convicted of Taking Bribes

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned a Virginia sheriff Monday who was scheduled to report to prison the next day after he deputized local businessmen in exchange for money.

Former Culpepper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins was convicted on federal fraud and bribery charges.

He was paid a total of $75,000 by at least six local businessmen, according to prosecutors. He also was accused of lying about it to investigators.

Jenkins was first elected as northern Virginia’s Culpepper County sheriff in 2011 and reelected twice. The bribes were allegedly paid in cash and campaign contributions.

Trump said his conviction was an example of the weaponization of the Justice Department by the Biden administration.

The president explained the pardon on his social media platform Truth Social by posting a message that said Jenkins and his family “have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”

“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail. He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead,’” Trump wrote in the post. “He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”

Jenkins, 53, also was known as a Trump supporter. He appealed to the Trump administration for clemency.

Jenkins testified on his own behalf that the auxiliary deputy jobs he awarded were unrelated to any money he received.

Two undercover FBI agents contradicted him in their testimony. They said Jenkins swore them in as auxiliary deputies in 2022.

Immediately afterward, they said they handed Jenkins envelopes containing $5,000 and $10,000 in cash that they described as payments for being deputized.

The appointments allow auxiliary deputies to avoid traffic tickets and to carry concealed guns without a permit.

A jury found Jenkins guilty in December 2023 of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud and seven counts of bribery. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee said in a statement about the same time that Jenkins violated his oath of office “and this case proves that when those officials use their authority for unjust personal enrichment, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable.”

Trump described the legal process leading to the conviction as being tainted by politics.

He said Jenkins tried to present evidence of his innocence but that Biden appointee U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou “refused to allow it, shut him down, and then went on a tirade.”

Three men accused of paying the bribes to Jenkins have pleaded guilty to related charges.

The pardon for Jenkins is one of several Trump has granted to his supporters.

Others have been a former Las Vegas Republican city councilwoman who was convicted of converting money planned for a statue of a slain police officer to her personal use; the operator of an online marketplace for illegal drugs and other products; and more than 1,500 insurrectionists charged with crimes after the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.

The online marketplace, called Silk Road, was operated by Ross Ulbricht, who was serving two life sentences. He identified as a libertarian.

Trump pardoned Ulbricht on Jan. 21, 2025, after speaking at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention. He wrote on Truth Social, “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross. The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me.”

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