President Donald Trump has issued a “full and unconditional pardon” to Scott Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia, who was convicted on multiple federal charges, including conspiracy, honest services fraud, and bribery.
President Trump announced the pardon in a Monday post on Truth Social, characterizing Jenkins as “a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice” who “doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail.”
Jenkins, who was sentenced in March under the Trump administration to 10 years in federal prison, was scheduled to report to jail on Tuesday. The charges stemmed from his acceptance of over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing numerous Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.
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. Prosecutors presented evidence that Jenkins accepted campaign contributions from three co-defendants and others, including two undercover FBI agents, and subsequently rewarded them with auxiliary deputy sheriff positions.
At the time of Jenkins’s sentencing, Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee stated, “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.” Lee added, “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.”
In his Truth Social post, President Trump referred to Jenkins as “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.”
Jenkins was first elected sheriff of Culpeper County in 2011, taking office in January 2012. He was subsequently reelected in 2015 and 2019. The pardon issued by President Trump effectively terminates his prison sentence.
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