President Trump introduced Monday that he’ll concern a former Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery a “full and unconditional pardon,” alleging that the lawman was a sufferer of “an overzealous Biden Department of Justice.”
Scott Jenkins, who had been the sheriff of Culpeper County, Va., was sentenced to 10 years in federal jail in March after being convicted on corruption fees associated to a scheme that noticed him appoint native businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in change for over $75,000 in bribes.
One of many males Jenkins appointed to a regulation enforcement put up was a convicted felon.
However Trump argued in a Reality Social put up that Jenkins and his household “have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”
“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail,” the president declared. “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.”
Trump famous that Jenkins, 53, was because of report back to jail on Tuesday “but instead will have a wonderful and productive life.”
Federal prosecutors introduced proof at trial that Jenkins accepted money bribes and marketing campaign contributions from three co-defendants – Rick Rahim, Fredric Gumbinner, and James Metcalf – and not less than 5 others, together with two undercover FBI brokers, in change for appointing them to a “sworn law-enforcement position.”
Jenkins issued the bribe payors official Culpeper County Sheriff’s Workplace badges and credentials – with out coaching or vetting – as a part of the scheme, and none rendered “legitimate services to the Sheriff’s Office or the citizens of Culpeper County” after being appointed auxiliary deputy sheriffs, based on the Justice Division.
“In addition, Jenkins pressured other local officials to approve a petition filed in Culpeper County Circuit Court by Rahim, a convicted felon, to restore his right to possess a firearm and which falsely stated that Rahim resided in Culpeper County,” federal prosecutors famous.
Rahim, Gumbinner, and Metcalf have all pleaded responsible to their roles within the conspiracy.
Trump argued Jenkins was not allowed to current exculpatory proof at trial by the Biden-appointed choose overseeing the case.
“In fact, during his trial, when Sheriff Jenkins tried to offer exculpatory evidence to support himself, the Biden Judge, Robert Ballou, refused to allow it, shut him down, and then went on a tirade,” the president wrote.
“As we have seen, in Federal, City, and State Courts, Radical Left or Liberal Judges allow into evidence what they feel like, not what is mandated under the Constitution and Rules of Evidence,” Trump added.
In March, performing US Lawyer for the Western District of Virginia Zachary Lee argued that Jenkins used his place of energy “for unjust personal enrichment” and “violated his oath of office.”
“Scott Jenkins violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him when he engaged in a cash-for-badges scheme,” Lee stated after Jenkins was sentenced. “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.”
