By Steve Neavling
Former President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will issue a “FULL and Unconditional Pardon” to former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Howard Jenkins, who was convicted earlier this year of federal fraud and bribery charges.
Jenkins, of Culpeper, Virginia, was scheduled to report to prison on Tuesday, but Trump wrote on Truth Social that Jenkins “will NOT be going to jail tomorrow,” describing him as a “victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice,” Axios reports.
A federal jury found Jenkins guilty of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing several Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs, according to a March statement from the Justice Department. Prosecutors described the scheme as a “cash-for-badges” operation that violated Jenkins’ oath of office.
“We hold our elected law enforcement officials to a higher standard of conduct,” Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee said at the time. “This case proves that when those officials use their authority for unjust personal enrichment, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable.”
A GoFundMe page created to support Jenkins claimed he was targeted because of politics, saying: “We’ve seen how political operatives have treated Donald Trump and those close to him, like Scott.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump said Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been “dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.” He added: “He doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail. He is a wonderful person.”
Trump’s announcement adds Jenkins to a growing list of pardons he has issued during his second term in office. Among those he has pardoned are people convicted in connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, a former associate of Hunter Biden, and Ross Ulbricht, who ran the Silk Road online marketplace convicted of drug trafficking.
During his first term, Trump also granted clemency to longtime associate Roger Stone, Charles Kushner — the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner — and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
