Donald Trump announced on Monday that he pardoned a MAGA sheriff right before the sheriff was set to serve a 10-year sentence for federal bribery crimes.
Former Culpeper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott Jenkins was found guilty of giving civilians police badges in exchange for thousands of dollars, amassing more than $75,000 in bribes. According to prosecutors, he made unvetted D.C.-area business owners unpaid auxiliary deputies, which gave them police powers. The business owners wanted to be able to avoid traffic tickets and be able to carry concealed firearms without a permit.
Jenkins was sentenced in March after a jury convicted him of all counts in December. He was indicted in 2023 on counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery.
“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“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.’ 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.”
Prosecutors said Jenkins put some of the bribe money in his campaign fund, but he kept the rest for himself. He has denied any wrongdoing. “I believe wholeheartedly in the president,” Jenkins said in April 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,” he added.
During the trial, Fairfax County business owner Rick Rahim testified that he was barred from owning a firearm. In exchange for $25,000 in cash and a $17,500 home-construction loan that was never repaid, Jenkins deputized him so he could own a gun.
Two undercover FBI agents said they were made auxiliary deputies and then gave Jenkins $5,000 and $10,000 cash.
“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,” Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee said at the time of Jenkins’ sentencing. “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 2019, Jenkins said he would deputize county residents if the legislature were to enact more gun control rules. “I plan to properly screen and deputize thousands of our law-abiding citizens to protect their constitutional right to own firearms,” he wrote on Facebook.
Trump has pardoned other supporters, including to about 1,500 defendants who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
“No MAGA left behind,” Ed Martin, the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice and former interim U.S. attorney for D.C., posted on X. He added: “Thank you, @potus Trump, for pardoning Sheriff Jenkins!”
