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Trump Pardons MAGA Sheriff Convicted of Cash-For-Badge Scheme

Scott Jenkins was convicted of giving out sheriffs’ badges in exchange for cash.

Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins speaks to AFP during an interview at the Sheriff's Office in Culpeper, Virginia, a Second Amendment sancuary some 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Washington, DC on January 16, 2020. - When Sheriff Scott Jenkins swore to protect the US Constitution, he swore to uphold the second amendment -- and that means guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms, even as the Virginia government weighs depriving state residents of what Jenkins considers an inalienable right. "The Constitution is very clear: the second amendment grants every citizen to bear arms, specifically against a tyrannical government," said the officer from Culpeper County, a rural region about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Washington. Since December, he has become a key figure in a pro-second amendment protest movement that has organized a protest in Richmond, the state capital, on January 20, 2020. At least 10,000 supporters plan on attending, according to media reports. The second amendment, which says that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," has proved controversial over the years and has been subject to many different interpretations. The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals have the right to keep firearms in their households, but left it to states to determine how the weapons could be transported. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

By Julia Ornedo

President Donald Trump pardoned a MAGA sheriff from Virginia who was convicted of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes.

Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Monday that he was issuing a “full and unconditional” pardon for Scott Jenkins, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison earlier this year following his December 2024 conviction of conspiracy, honest services fraud, and bribery.

The president claimed that Jenkins and his family had been “dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”

A frame displays a portrait of Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins at the Sheriff's Office in Culpeper, Virginia, a Second Amendment sancuary some 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Washington, DC on January 16, 2020. - When Sheriff Scott Jenkins swore to protect the US Constitution, he swore to uphold the second amendment -- and that means guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms, even as the Virginia government weighs depriving state residents of what Jenkins considers an inalienable right. "The Constitution is very clear: the second amendment grants every citizen to bear arms, specifically against a tyrannical government," said the officer from Culpeper County, a rural region about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Washington. Since December, he has become a key figure in a pro-second amendment protest movement that has organized a protest in Richmond, the state capital, on January 20, 2020. At least 10,000 supporters plan on attending, according to media reports. The second amendment, which says that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," has proved controversial over the years and has been subject to many different interpretations. The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals have the right to keep firearms in their households, but left it to states to determine how the weapons could be transported. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

Jenkins was the sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia for 12 years until his indictment cost him his reelection in 2023.

AFP via Getty Images

“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” he wrote. “He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters,’ and ‘left for dead.’”

Trump said Jenkins will not be going to jail, “but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”

Culpeper, Virginia locator map

Map Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

Jenkins was the sheriff of Culpeper County, Virginia—located around 100 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.—for more than a decade until he lost his re-election bid in 2023 following his indictment on bribery and fraud charges.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia said Jenkins accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for appointing Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs so that they could avoid traffic tickets and carry concealed firearms without a permit.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - JANUARY 20: Culpeper County, Virginia, Sheriff Scott Jenkins poses for photographs following a gun rights rally organized by The Virginia Citizens Defense League near the State Capitol Building January 20, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Jenkins has promised to deputize thousands of his county's gun owners if Democrats pass more restrictive gun laws. During elections last year, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam promised to enact sweeping gun control laws in 2020, including limiting handgun purchase to one per month, banning military-style weapons and silencers, allowing localities to ban guns in public spaces and enacting a 'red flag' law so authorities can temporarily seize weapons from someone deemed a threat. While event organizers have asked supporters to show up un-armed, militias and other extremist groups from across the country plan to attend the rally and show their support for gun rights. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Jenkins is also a gun rights advocate, promising in a January 2020 rally to deputize thousands of his county's gun owners if Democrats pass more restrictive gun laws.

Getty Images

Under the scheme, Jenkins accepted cash bribes in the form of campaign contributions, then appointed the payers as auxiliary deputy sheriffs with their own Sheriff’s Office badges and credentials, despite not undergoing any training or vetting.

“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,” acting U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee said in March.

In 2021, Jenkins was one of eight sheriffs named as fellows by the Claremont Institute, a far-right think tank that employs a number of former Trump administration officials.

He’d also previously come to national attention by vowing to deputize “thousands” of residents in his county if the Virginia state legislature passed what he deemed to be “unnecessary gun restrictions.”

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Julia Ornedo
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