Virginia Mayor Busted By Cops in Undercover Meth-for-Sex Sting
Richard “Scott” Silverthorne was arrested Thursday night and faces a felony charge.
Police arrested the mayor of Fairfax, Virginia, in a sting operation Thursday night, alleging he made online arrangements with undercover officers to exchange methamphetamine for sex.
Mayor Richard “Scott” Silverthorne, 50, was arrested outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel, on Chain Bridge Road, in Tysons Corner, Virginia, after he provided methamphetamine to undercover detectives, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. He is charged with a felony for distributing the drug and a misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.
“He did not resist,” Capt. Jack Hardin said during a press conference Friday, referring to the mayor. “He provided a full confession on everything he did that night.”
Silverthorne, a Democrat, was re-elected in May to his third term as mayor of Fairfax, a city of about 24,000 located just outside the Capital Beltway, west of Washington, D.C. He previously served nine full terms on the City Council there, the first beginning in 1990.
A statement issued by the city of Fairfax on Friday said that, in accordance with the city charter, Silverthorne had appointed Councilmember Jeffrey Greenfield to serve as acting mayor—effective immediately. The statement also said city operations would continue as usual, and noted that in Virginia cities are administered through a “council-manager” form of government, in which the city manager oversees day to day municipal affairs.
The investigation that led to Silverthorne’s arrest began after police received a tip in July that the mayor was possibly active on a website where he was trading meth for sex with men.
An undercover detective created a profile on the website and, within a few days, the mayor contacted him, according to a police news release. Undercover detectives later agreed to meet “for a group sexual encounter in exchange for methamphetamine,” the release said.
Major Ed O’Carroll, director of the Public Affairs Bureau for the county police department, said Friday that Silverthorne had worked as a substitute teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools. But he emphasized that police had found no evidence of any minors being involved in the crimes the mayor is alleged to have committed.
Two other men described as Silverthorne’s suppliers were also arrested Thursday night in connection with the investigation, and charged with felonies.
Hardin said when the mayor was arrested he had about 2 grams of methamphetamine, and the investigation offered no indication that he had larger supplies at his home.
The police captain said he did not know how long Silverthorne might have been active on the website where he was contacted by police, and declined to name the site.
Hardin did say, however, that he was aware of at least one other relationship Silverthorne had forged through the website, in which the mayor traded methamphetamine for sex.
There were no further steps planned for the investigation unless new information arises, O’Carroll said.
Silverthorne had faced rough times during the year that led up to his most recent re-election.
He lost a job with the National Association of Manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy protection last September, lost his home to foreclosure, and was diagnosed with carcinoma, a typically non-lethal form of cancer, according to an article in May in The Washington Post.
“I’m bouncing back,” he told the newspaper at that time. “The city of Fairfax made me the comeback mayor.”
Silverthorne’s attorney, Brian Drummond, could not be reached by phone on Friday, and an email was not immediately returned.
Bill Lucia is a Reporter for Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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