Donald Trump announced on Monday that he had issued an unconditional pardon to a former Virginia sheriff who was convicted on federal fraud and bribery charges.
Scott Jenkins, 53, had served as the sheriff of Culpeper county in northern Virginia for 12 years, having been elected in 2011 and re-elected twice.
He was convicted of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
According to prosecutors, Jenkins accepted bribes from at least eight people, including two undercover FBI agents, in the form of cash and campaign contributions.
Jenkins has become only the latest person to receive a pardon from Trump about fourth months into his second presidency.
On Monday, Donald Trump declared that a former Virginia sheriff convicted of federal fraud and bribery charges had received an unconditional pardon.
Having been elected in 2011 and twice re-elected, 53-year-old Scott Jenkins had been the sheriff of northern Virginia’s Culpeper County for 12 years.
He was convicted by a jury in 2024 of taking over $75,000 in bribes to appoint a number of northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in his office.
Seven counts of bribery pertaining to federally funded programs, four counts of honest services fraud, and one count of conspiracy were all found against him.
A 10-year sentence in federal prison was handed down to Jenkins in March 2025.
Prosecutors claim Jenkins took bribes in the form of cash and campaign contributions from at least eight individuals, including two FBI undercover agents.
According to the prosecution, he gave them official badges and credentials in exchange, which let them carry concealed weapons without a permit and avoid traffic tickets.
Prosecutors claim that Jenkins accepted bribes from Rick Rahim, Fredric Gumbinner, and James Metcalf, who all entered guilty pleas to play supporting roles in the case.
Trump defended Jenkins’ accusation that he was a “victim of an overzealous” justice department under Joe Biden in a post on Truth Social on Monday. Jenkins, according to Trump, “doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail.”.
Additionally, Trump attacked the presiding judge, claiming that Jenkins was “shut down” during proceedings and was not allowed to present “evidence to support himself.”.
Jenkins allegedly made a direct plea for clemency to the Trump administration following his conviction.
Approximately four months into his second term, Trump has pardoned Jenkins, making him the most recent individual to do so.
The sentences of roughly 1,500 participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress, including some convicted of violent crimes, were pardoned or commuted by Trump on his first day in office.
Other people that Trump has since pardoned include former Democratic governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, who was found guilty of federal corruption charges, including trying to sell an appointment to the US Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency in 2009, and Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road, an illegal online drug marketplace.
