CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A former Virginia sheriff was sentenced Wednesday evening on federal bribery charges for replacing people in exchange for cash payments.
The jury in Charlottesville, Virginia, convicted former Culpeper Sheriff Scott Jenkins on all counts after several hours of deliberation.
Jenkins was indicted in 2023 on 16 counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery related to programs that received federal funds.
Jenkins took the stand in his own defense, saying there was no connection between the payments he received and the badges he handed out. news reports.
Testimony against Jenkins included two undercover FBI agents who were sworn in as deputy deputies in 2022 and immediately afterward gave Jenkins envelopes containing $5,000 and $10,000 cash, respectively.
Another person, Northern Virginia businessman Rick Rahim, testified that Jenkins helped him get his gun rights restored in 2019 and 2020 and then had him replaced in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments and loans that were never repaid.
Rahim entered into a plea deal earlier this year and will be sentenced for his role in January.
Prosecutors said some of the bribes went to Jenkins’ campaign fund, while others were kept for his personal use.
Jenkins was first elected sheriff in 2011 and was re-elected twice before being defeated in 2023. He was both a Republican and an independent.
In 2019, Jenkins made headlines when he promised to replace county residents if the then newly elected Democratic majority in the state legislature were to continue with what he called “further unnecessary gun restrictions.”
Attorneys for Jenkins did not respond to an email Thursday asking whether they plan to appeal the verdict. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 31.