President Donald Trump has issued a pardon to Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins. It's not the first time convictions for corruption have been set aside.
Almost a decade ago, former Governor Bob McDonnell was convicted of corruption after he took expensive gifts from a wealthy businessman. That conviction was eventually overturned by the United States Supreme Court, which set a new standard for what was needed to prove a quid pro quo. Legal expert Rich Kelsey says federal prosecutors used that standard to prosecute Culpepper Sheriff Scott Jenkins for accepting bribes in exchange for official acts.
“The Supreme Court cleared up for everyone what you need in order to prove corruption on the federal level, and then they turned around and used that law as handed down," Kelsey says. "They had the facts. They had the receipts. And so you would think the Jenkins case would be the next logical step to an improved system.”
But, he says, that’s not what happened. A jury convicted the former sheriff of selling official duties for cash, and he was sentenced to a decade in prison. But then President Donald Trump pardoned Jenkins and said he was a victim of the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden. Carl Tobias at the University of Richmond disagrees.
“I don’t think there was weaponization here as the president said from the DOJ," Tobias says. "I think the record of the U.S. Attorney in the Western District is excellent.”
Jenkins was about to start serving his sentence when Trump issued the pardon.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
