President Donald Trump issued a full pardon Monday to Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for auxiliary deputy appointments. Jenkins, once the sheriff of Culpeper County, had been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and was scheduled to report to prison Tuesday.
“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”
Jenkins was convicted in December of accepting over $75,000 in cash and campaign contributions from several individuals—two of whom were undercover FBI agents—and issuing unearned law enforcement credentials in return. Prosecutors described the scheme as “cash-for-badges,” which also included attempts to restore gun rights to a convicted felon.
“Scott Jenkins violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee. “When officials use their authority for personal enrichment, the DOJ will hold them accountable.”
Trump, however, claimed Jenkins was a political target. “This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice… persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead,’” he added.
The pardon followed Jenkins’s public plea for clemency, during which he said he lacked the funds to appeal and believed Trump would pardon him if he knew the facts.
Jenkins is among numerous controversial figures pardoned by Trump in his second term, including many Jan. 6 rioters and conservative political allies.
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