Trump pardons above Virginia sheriff bedeviled of artifice and bribery

Donald Trump appears on Monday that he had issued an actual absolution to a above Virginia sheriff who was bedeviled on federal artifice and bribery charges.

Scott Jenkins, 53, had served as the sheriff of Culpeper canton in arctic Virginia for 12 years, accepting been adopted in 2011 and re-elected twice.

In 2024, a board begin him accusable of accepting added than $75,000 in bribes in barter for appointing several arctic Virginia businessmen as abetting agent sheriffs aural his office.

He was bedevilled of one calculation of conspiracy, four counts of honest casework fraud, and seven counts of bribery apropos programs accepting federal funds.

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In March 2025, Jenkins was bedevilled to 10 years in federal prison.

According to prosecutors, Jenkins accustomed bribes from at atomic eight people, including two clandestine FBI agents, in the anatomy of banknote and advance contributions.

Prosecutors say that he issued official badges and accreditation in return, acceptance the individuals to abstain cartage tickets and backpack buried accoutrements after a permit.

Three bodies – Rick Rahim, Fredric Gumbinner and James Metcalf – pleaded accusable to accessory roles in the case, with prosecutor’s adage Jenkins accustomed bribes from them.

In a column on Truth Social on Monday, Trump dedicated Jenkins calling him a “victim of an overzealous” amends administering during Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump said Jenkins “doesn’t deserve to absorb a distinct day in jail”.

Trump additionally criticized the adjudicator who oversaw the case, alleging that Jenkins was prevented from presenting “evidence to abutment himself” and was “shut down” during proceedings.

After his conviction, Jenkins reportedly appealed anon to the Trump administering for clemency.

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Jenkins has become alone the latest being to accept a absolution from Trump about fourth months into his additional presidency.

On Trump’s aboriginal day in office, he pardoned or commuted the punishments of about 1,500 bodies complex in the January 6 2021 advance on Congress, including some bedevilled of agitated offenses.

Since then, Trump has additionally issued pardons to others such as Ross Ulbricht, the architect of the actionable online biologic barter the Silk Road; and above Democratic Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who was bedevilled of federal bribery charges, including attempting to advertise an arrangement to the US assembly bench larboard abandoned by Barack Obama’s ascendance to the admiral in 2009.

In March, Trump pardoned three co-founders of cryptocurrency barter BitMEX, who pleaded accusable in 2022 to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.