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17h ago

Trump Pardons Ex-Virginia Sheriff Convicted in Cash-for-Badges Scheme

The pardon follows Jenkins’s direct clemency plea to the Trump administration earlier this year.

Former Culpeper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott Jenkins, shown January 20, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia, was convicted in a $75,000 "cash for badges scheme." President Donald Trump pardoned Jenkins on May 26, 2025.
Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins speaks to AFP during an interview at the Sheriff's Office in Culpeper, Virginia, a Second Amendment sanctuary some 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Washington, DC on January 16, 2020.
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Overview

  • A federal jury found Jenkins guilty in December of accepting over $75,000 in bribes to appoint unqualified donors as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in Culpeper County.
  • He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March and stood to report to a federal prison on May 27 before President Trump granted him a full and unconditional pardon on May 26.
  • Trump said on Truth Social that Jenkins was a victim of an overzealous Justice Department under Biden and criticized the presiding judge for barring key exculpatory evidence.
  • Critics warned on social media that the pardon undermines the rule of law, while supporters hailed it as relief for someone they view as unjustly prosecuted.
  • The Jenkins pardon extends Trump’s record of issuing clemency to controversial figures and political allies, including those tied to the January 6 Capitol attack.