Virginia mayor faces drug charges after undercover sting

A three-term northern Virginia mayor was arrested on drug charges after he tried to trade two grams of methamphetamine for sex acts in what turned out to be an undercover sting operation, police said Friday.

City of Fairfax Mayor R. Scott Silverthorne, a Democrat, was arrested Thursday night after meeting at a Tysons Corner hotel with undercover detectives he approached through a website used to arrange casual sexual encounters between men, Fairfax County police said at a news conference.

Silverthorne, who also worked as a substitute teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools, was arrested and gave a full confession, police said.

Silverthorne, in an email to the Associated Press, declined comment and referred questions to his attorney, Brian Drummond, who did not return a phone call Friday.

In the sting operation, the undercover detectives agreed to meet for a group sexual encounter in exchange for methamphetamine, police said.