Ex-mayor pleads guilty in meth-for-sex sting
Former D.C. suburb official held for sentencing
“He’s not some cartel guy. He’s not what people might think of.”
Mary Silverthorne, sister-in-law of former mayor
A former Virginia mayor pleaded guilty Monday to a felony drug distribution charge after local police arrested him in August for selling methamphetamine to undercover officers in exchange for group sex.
Former Fairfax mayor Richard “Scott” Silverthorne, 51, is to remain in custody until a June 9 sentencing hearing where he faces a maximum 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Silverthorne’s attorney, Brian Drummond, said he was shocked the court ruled to hold the former politician until June given that Silverthorne has no prior record of drug charges and that he was released after his arrest before the plea hearing.
Prosecutors did not ask that Silverthorne be held until sentencing, he added.
Throughout the hearing, Silverthorne remained calm, answering the judge’s questions with brief responses.
Family, friends and co-workers were visibly shaken in the courtroom, one saying “Oh my, God,” after the judge issued the ruling.
“He’s not some cartel guy,” Mary Silverthorne, the former mayor’s sister-in-law, said fighting back tears. “He’s not what people might think of.”
Silverthorne said she does not think her brother-in-law would have faced imprisonment until sentencing had he not been a public figure.
Police arrested the then-Fairfax mayor on Aug. 4 in an undercover sting at a Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Detectives first encountered Silverthorne on a website used for casual sexual encounters between men, prosecutors said Monday. After a few online exchanges in July, Silverthorne told detectives to text him and later set up a meeting to supply drugs in exchange for “a gang bang,” prosecutors said.
The detectives met Silverthorne in the hotel parking lot where they gave him $200 for methamphetamine. Silverthorne used $60 to pay back a debt he owed and purchased $140 worth of crystal meth from a supplier inside the hotel, prosecutors said. Police arrested Silverthorne when he returned to the parking lot.
Police also arrested two other men — Juan Jose Fernandez, 34, and Caustin Lee McLaughlin, 31 — on felony drug charges in the undercover operation.
Drummond said Silverthorne had no intention to profit off the encounter other than to use the drug. He added that it would have been futile to go to trial given the evidence against Silverthorne.
No sentencing arrangement was reached in the plea agreement, but a misdemeanor drugrelated charge was dropped.
With Virginia’s voluntary sentencing guidelines, the judge could give Silverthorne seven months to a year and four months in prison, and the recommendation based on Silverthorne’s history and circumstances of the case could lead to only probation, Drummond said.
“When the judge sees what kind of person he really is, there’s a good possibility that she will sentence him within the guidelines,” he added.
A Fairfax native, Silverthorne won re-election for his third term as mayor in May 2016. He had served in the City Council from 1990 to 2008, then returned for a year in 2011 before becoming mayor. He also worked as a substitute teacher in Fairfax County public schools.
However, 2015 marked a challenging year for the Virginia politician. Silverthorne battled cancer in his neck and faced financial troubles, ultimately losing his five-bedroom home to foreclosure.
During his time as mayor, Silverthorne sought to revamp local business regulations and promote economic development in the Washington suburb. His sister-in-law said that he worked to make his office more accessible to Fairfax citizens.
He even offered to meet with constituents at a local Panera, she added.
“He loves Fairfax City more than anything,” she said. She noted the large group of people who have come to Silverthorne’s hearings as proof of his dedication to Fairfax. “Everybody loves him.”
Silverthorne announced his resignation less than a week after the arrest and has since worked at a hardware store in Bethesda, Md. Co-worker Chris Minich Jr., who was present at Monday’s hearing, said Silverthorne makes his fellow employees and customers laugh at work.
“The second I met him I felt like I’d known him for a long time,” he said.