MURFREESBORO (AP) — A former Tennessee sheriff sentenced to about four years in prison for charges related to profiting from the sale of electronic cigarettes to inmates has sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking for a pardon.

The Daily News Journal reports former Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold sent a copy of his letter to the newspaper. In the letter, Arnold says he's a political prisoner who never took tax dollars in operating his JailCigs business. Prosecutors say he illegally profited from sales to inmates at the Rutherford County Jail in Murfreesboro.

Arnold, who is 42, pleaded guilty last year in federal court to wire fraud, honest services fraud and extortion and received a 50-month sentence. He's scheduled to be released May 14, 2020.