He Needed A Stinking Badge
A bribery conviction has drawn a complaint from the Illinois Administrator.
The recipient (since pardoned) was a Virginia sheriff
In or around July and August 2019, [business associate] Rahim told Respondent that he would have to make a $20,000 “donation” to obtain an auxiliary deputy sheriff badge. On or about October 1, Respondent gave Rahim check number 1169, drawn on Respondent’s personal bank account, in the amount of $20,000, payable to Rahim’s company Food Truck Company LLC. In the memo line of the check, Respondent wrote, “LLC Investment.” Respondent understood that Rahim would pay all or a portion of those funds to Sheriff Jenkins or his campaign to induce him to deputize Respondent.
On or about December 23, 2019, Rahim sent Respondent and an unnamed auxiliary deputy sheriff (“Individual One”) a text message that stated, “Fred [Respondent] is the close friend who helped me provide all the recent support for our great Sheriff.” Rahim asked Individual One to facilitate Respondent being sworn in as an auxiliary deputy sheriff.
On or about March 6, 2020, Respondent traveled to the County, and the Circuit Court Clerk swore him in as an auxiliary deputy sheriff. The Sheriff’s Office issued Respondent an auxiliary deputy sheriff badge and identification card. After Respondent was sworn in, he purchased a firearm. Respondent did not receive any training from the Sheriff’s Office and did not qualify in the use of a firearm.
On two occasions between 2020 and 2023, while at an airport, Respondent showed his auxiliary deputy sheriff badge to request access to the TSA Pre-Check line when his boarding pass failed to indicate he was cleared for TSA Pre-Check. On one of those occasions, Respondent was granted access, and on the other occasion, he was denied access.
On one occasion between 2020 and 2023, while driving on a highway, Respondent showed his auxiliary deputy sheriff badge through his car window as he passed a marked police car after he drove on the shoulder to bypass a traffic jam and exit the highway.
In or around March 2021, when scheduling an appointment for a Covid-19 vaccine, Respondent represented himself as a law enforcement officer or first responder to try to secure a vaccine appointment prior to the general public. Respondent was not permitted to receive an early vaccination.
In or around February 2022, after Respondent was issued a ticket for parking in a handicapped space with an expired handicapped placard, Respondent informed the deputy who issued the ticket that he was a deputy sheriff with the Sheriff’s Office.
In or around 2021, Respondent showed his auxiliary deputy sheriff badge to an unnamed individual, who was a businessperson residing in Fairfax County, Virginia (“Individual Two”), and Respondent told Individual Two he had paid Sheriff Jenkins to obtain the badge. Individual Two expressed interest in acquiring an auxiliary deputy sheriff badge. Thereafter, Respondent introduced Individual Two to Individual One with the intent to assist Individual Two
in obtaining an auxiliary deputy sheriff badge in exchange for a payment to Sheriff Jenkins. On or about September 9, 2022, Respondent sent a text message to Individual One that read, “Also [Individual Two] is in for supporting the Sheriff,” which referred to Individual Two’s agreement to pay Sheriff Jenkins in exchange for an auxiliary deputy sheriff badge.
Plea
Count Nine of the indictment charged Respondent with the federal offense of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds in violation of Title 18, U.S.C. Section 666(a)(2). Specifically, it alleged that from approximately April 2019 through approximately March 2020, Respondent, aided and abetted by Rahim, corruptly gave, offered, and agreed to give a thing of value to Sheriff Jenkins (i.e., approximately $20,000) with the intent to influence and reward Sheriff Jenkins, an agent of the County and the Sheriff’s Office, a local government and an agency thereof, both of which received benefits exceeding $10,000 under federal programs involving grants, contracts, subsidies, loans, guarantees, insurance, and other forms of federal assistance in the fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, and June 30, 2020, in connection with any business, transaction, and series of transactions of the County and the Sheriff’s office involving something of value of $5,000 or more (i.e., the appointment of Respondent as auxiliary deputy sheriff for the County)
(Mike Frisch)