Particle.news
Download on the App Store
37 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

Trump Pardons Ex-Virginia Sheriff in $75K ‘Cash-for-Badges’ Scheme

The decision halts a decade-long sentence stemming from Jenkins’s December conviction for taking more than $75,000 in exchange for appointing unqualified deputy sheriffs.

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.
Image
Image

Overview

  • President Trump granted Scott Jenkins a full and unconditional pardon on May 26, preventing him from serving a 10-year federal prison term.
  • A jury convicted Jenkins in December 2024 of accepting cash and campaign contributions to name unqualified donors as auxiliary deputies.
  • Trump accused the Biden Justice Department of a “weaponized” prosecution and said Jenkins was blocked from presenting exculpatory evidence at trial.
  • Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee said Jenkins violated his oath of office and betrayed Culpeper County residents by selling law-enforcement credentials.
  • The pardon is the latest in a series of controversial clemencies by Trump, who has also pardoned figures tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and other high-profile cases.