President Donald Trump pardons former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins convicted of fraud and bribery

The US president says Scott Jenkins is a "victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice".

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A jury found former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins guilty of accepting more than $75,000 (£55,000) in bribes last December, in exchange for making several businessmen into law enforcement officers without them being trained.

Jenkins, a long-time supporter of Trump, was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison. He was set to report to jail on Tuesday, but due to Trump's pardon, he will not spend a single day behind bars.

"Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL," Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network.

Trump said Jenkins was the "victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice". The judge who presided over Jenkins's case, Robert Ballou, was appointed by former President Joe Biden, but it was a jury trial.