President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he will pardon a former Virginia sheriff convicted of taking more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said Scott Howard Jenkins, 53, of Culpeper, Virginia, was supposed to report to jail Tuesday but “instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”
Jenkins, the former sheriff of Culpeper County, was convicted last year of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison.
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Former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins speaks during a gun rights rally in Richmond, Va. Jenkins has been granted a pardon by President Donald Trump after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking more than $75,000 in bribes. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In his post, Trump said the former sheriff and his wife have been “dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden” Justice Department.
“In fact, during his trial, when Sheriff Jenkins tried to offer exculpatory evidence to support himself, the Biden Judge, Robert Ballou, refused to allow it, shut him down, and then went on a tirade,” Trump wrote. “As we have seen, in Federal, City, and State Courts, Radical Left or Liberal Judges allow into evidence what they feel like, not what is mandated under the Constitution and Rules of Evidence.”
“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” he added. “He is 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.”
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President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 24. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors alleged Jenkins accepted cash bribes and bribes in the form of campaign contributions from co-defendants Rick Rahim, Fredric Gumbinner and James Metcalf, as well as at least five others, including two FBI undercover agents.
In exchange, Jenkins appointed the people paying the bribes as auxiliary deputy sheriffs, a sworn law-enforcement position, and issued them official Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office badges and credentials, authorities said.
None of the payers were trained or vetted and did not render any legitimate services to the sheriff’s office, prosecutors said.
The entrance to the Sheriff’s Office in Culpeper, Va. (Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images)
In April, Jenkins said he hoped that Trump would intervene in his case.
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“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 wholeheartedly in the president,” he said during a webinar hosted by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association. “I believe if he heard the information, I know he would help if he knew my story.”
