A former Virginia mayor pleaded guilty to meth-for-sex charges

Former Fairfax City Mayor Richard "Scott" Silverthorne pleaded guilty Monday to meth-for-sex charges. 

A prosecutor said the 50-year-old used a sexually suggestive screen name to arrange an orgy with an undercover officer in exchange for methamphetamine, The Washington Post reports. Police said Silverthorne was distributing meth through the website Bare Back Real Time, which is used to arrange casual sexual encounters for men.

Last summer, police received a tip about Silverthorne's online activity and that prompted authorities to set up a fake account meant to lure him in. The sting operation effectively ended his career and landed him in jail. 

Silverthorne could face up to 40 years in prison, but Brian Drummond, his attorney, noted the former mayor's nearly three decades of public service and said he's hoping for a shorter sentence. 

"The facts were such that it would have been futile to go to trial,” Drummond told The Washington Post after the hearing. “The statute for distribution in Virginia is very broad and he is at the lower end of the spectrum. He is guilty of the transaction, but he didn’t get any money for it.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kathleen Bilton made it clear that the former mayor initiated the conversation to arrange the orgy-for-drug exchange. She added that Silverthorne indicated this was not the first time he had used meth.

WJLA contributed to this report.

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