The Mayor of Fairfax City is charged with distributing methamphetamine after police caught him in a sex-for-drugs sting.
Police said Mayor Richard “Scott” Silverthorne handed over meth in exchange for what he thought was going to be a night of group sex with three other men.
Now, many are calling for Mayor Silverthorne to resign. After his arrest, Silverthorne was released and councilmember Jeff Greenfield was appointed acting mayor.
“It's very shocking, it’s very shocking,” neighbor Scott Frankhauser said. “I never would have guessed anything like."
Fairfax County Police Captain Jack Hardin said a citizen tipped them off that Mayor Silverthorne was distributing meth through a website used by gay men to arrange causal sexual encounters.
An undercover officer created a profile and Silverthorne contacted him. A meeting was arranged at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Tysons Corner Thursday night.
Silverthorne was to bring the meth while the undercover officer would spring for the hotel room and both were to bring a friend for group sex.
"The plan was to keep him outside because we didn't want to engage in the activities that he wanted to engage in," Captain Hardin said.
Three men were arrested and charged with distribution of methamphetamine.
Silverthorne and his alleged supplier, 34-year-old Jose Fernandez were charged in the case. Twenty-one year old Caustin Lee McLaughlin was also charged with obstruction.
Silverthorne has been fired from his job as a substitute teacher in Fairfax County. Nobody on the city council would comment on the charges.
Friends and neighbors of Silverthorne are shocked.
In May, Silverthorne, who is openly gay, won his third two-year term for mayor after a difficult year battling cancer and a losing his job.
John Norce, who ran against Silverthorne in 2012 and lost, said he should resign.
"I don't see how you would not want to resign. How can you be an acting mayor...bankruptcy, a $100 million budget?” Norce said. “And now he's changed with a felony and involved in drugs?”
Norce said Silverthorne has tarnished his father's name. Silverthorne's father was the mayor in Fairfax City for many years during the 1970s.
But a friend, who didn't want his name used, told WUSA9 that Silverthorne is not a drug dealer.
Jeff Greenburg, the acting mayor, issued a statement saying the Fairfax City Council appreciates Mr. Silverthorne's longstanding dedication to the community for more than a quarter of a century.
