Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
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Left: Culpeper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins (Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office). Right: President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the 157th National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, May 26, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump has pardoned a beleaguered Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery and fraud, arguing he was actually a “victim.”

In December, Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins was found guilty of involvement in conspiracy, honest services fraud, and multiple bribery charges involving programs with federal funding. He was scheduled to begin a 10-year prison sentence on Tuesday — until the president intervened on his behalf.

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“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, alongside his wife Patricia and family, have endured a nightmare at the hands of a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump posted on social media, repeating serious allegations against former President Joe Biden and his defunct administration — claims that Biden, his allies, and ex-Attorney General Merrick Garland have consistently refuted.

In his Monday Truth Social post, Trump claimed Jenkins tried to offer vindicating evidence during his trial last year but that U.S. District Judge Robert Ballou of the Western District of Virginia denied him from doing so. The president argued that federal and state courts across the country have acted in a similar manner, continuing his verbal assault on judges — many of whom have denied him from enacting core elements of his executive agenda.

“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” Trump wrote of Jenkins. “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,” the president concluded.

Law&Crime reached out to Ballou, a Biden appointee, for comment on the accusation.

Jenkins was convicted of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing several Northern Virginia businessmen as “auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department,” the Justice Department wrote in March following the ex-sheriff’s sentencing hearing. He took bribes from at least eight people, according to evidence produced at trial, including two undercover FBI agents. Three other men pled guilty “for their roles in the conspiracy.”

The former sheriff of Culpeper County, which lies about 60 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., also “pressured” local officials to restore the right of Rick Rahim, a convicted felon and one of the alleged coconspirators, to possess a firearm, “falsely” stating that Rahim lived in Culpeper County, according to the DOJ.

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