The mayor of Fairfax, Virginia, has resigned following his arrest last week for allegedly trying to exchange methamphetamine to undercover detectives in exchange for sex, city officials said Monday.
Mayor Richard "Scott" Silverthorne's resignation will take effect on Thursday, according to a statement on the City of Fairfax website.
Silverthorne, 50, was arrested and charged with felony distribution of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after a sting operation that had been underway since July led an undercover detective to the mayor, who provided detectives with methamphetamine.
The detectives had contacted Silverthorne through a website, where he promised them a "group sexual encounter" with men in exchange for the drugs, according to the Fairfax City Police Department.
Silverthorne "did not resist" arrest, said Fairfax County Capt. Jack Hardin. "He provided a full confession on everything he did that night."
Two other men, Juan Jose Fernandez, 34, and Caustin Lee McLaughlin, 21, were also arrested in connection with the case. They were each charged with felony distribution of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
After Silverthorne's arrest was announced Friday, he appointed a city councilman, Jeffrey Greenfield, as temporary acting mayor. The statement from city officials said a special meeting was scheduled regarding the matter on Tuesday night and Virginia law would be followed in appointing a new mayor. Normal city operations would continue, the statement said.
Silverthorne was elected in May to a third term as mayor of the community of about 24,000 residents while fighting cancer, facing bankruptcy and shortly after losing his civilian job.
Silverthorne had also worked as a substitute teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools and was fired from that job after his arrest, a district spokesman told NBC News.
“My faith in God and myself will get me through the biggest challenge of my life," Silverthorne told NBC Washington on Monday. "I ask that people keep me in their prayers."
