Local business owner Robert Krop was acquitted on all counts in his machine gun conspiracy case on Tuesday.
Krop was accused of conspiring with Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins to illegally acquire seven machine guns by misleading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about the intended purpose of the weapons.
Krop’s trial was originally scheduled to last through Thursday of this week, but the case was handed over to the jury on Monday afternoon.
The verdict came back after approximately five hours of deliberation over two days.
As the verdict was read, Krop listened intently from the defense table with approximately 20 of his friends and family members sitting behind him in the courtroom gallery.
The group left the courtroom and joined together in a prayer led by Krop family pastor Johnny Yoho, who earlier testified for the defense as a character witness. Krop fell to his knees once the prayer was finished.
In an interview outside the Edward A. Garmatz United States Courthouse, Krop said he “just knew” the verdict would be in his favor.
“Praise to God,” Krop said. “This is all his win.”
Cox said in an interview that he was happy for his client and and felt “so grateful we live in this great land of the free.”
He added that “from the very beginning, the evidence showed that there were no definitions for which [the government] was prosecuting my client.”
The charges Krop was facing included:
• Conspiracy to interfere with government functions and to violate federal law regulating machine guns, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine
• Making false statements during the purchase of firearms, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine
• Making false statements in records maintained by federal firearms licensee, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine
• Making false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine
A series of letters signed by Jenkins and submitted to the ATF indicated that the seven machine guns Krop was accused of illegally possessing would be transferred to The Machine Gun Nest, which would then demonstrate the weapons to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.
Krop’s attorneys pointed out during the trial that the ATF’s own policies do not define a demonstration.
That alone, defense attorney Luke Cass said during his closing argument, created enough of a reasonable doubt to acquit Krop.
Angelina Thompson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, wrote in an email on Tuesday that her office had no comment on either Krop’s acquittal or the case against Jenkins.
Jenkins’ trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 27, 2025, and last seven days.
Reached by phone on Tuesday afternoon, Jenkins’ attorney, Andrea Smith, said she hoped the U.S. Justice Department would consider dismissing the charges against the sheriff, which include the conspiracy charge and three counts of making false statements.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Smith said, she had not heard anything from federal prosecutors about the case against Jenkins.
That request was granted by U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher on Oct. 15, the first day of Krop’s trial.
In their filing, prosecutors wrote they would not be able to “simultaneously try that case against [Krop] while also drafting response motions to [Jenkins].”
Gallagher presided over Krop’s trial.
Procedural history
In May 2022, the ATF executed a search warrant at The Machine Gun Nest and seized the seven machine guns at issue in Krop’s criminal case, including:
- One FN Herstal SCAR 17
- Two FN Herstal SCAR 17s with different barrel lengths
- One KRISS Vector SMG
- One Remington ACR
- One FN P90 Tactical
- One FN M249 SAW
It is not yet clear if the guns that were seized from The Machine Gun Nest will be returned to Krop.
An indictment containing six charges against Krop and five charges against Jenkins was handed up in April 2023. In February 2024, the original indictment was revised to eliminate one count against both men of making false statements.
The revised indictment against Krop was dismissed on May 3 of this year after Gallagher found that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.
Federal prosecutors on May 29 filed a new indictment including the five counts for which Krop was tried.
Throughout the case, Krop’s attorneys filed several motions in U.S. District Court challenging the validity of both the revised indictment from February and the second indictment from May.
Krop’s defense also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which hears appeals from federal district courts in Maryland and other states, to review some of Gallagher’s decisions ahead of the trial this month.
Asked about the status of the appeal after Krop’s acquittal, Cox said he did not want to speculate, but that “this case is now officially over.”
Earlier this month, Krop rejected two plea offers from federal prosecutors, which allowed his case to proceed to trial.
During the trial, federal prosecutors presented evidence including ATF white papers, the letters from Jenkins to The Machine Gun Nest, posts from The Machine Gun Nest’s social media pages, and videos of the guns that were seized from the business.
The government called witnesses from the ATF, former and current members of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, and current and former employees of The Machine Gun Nest.
Evidence provided by the defense included emails from employees of The Machine Gun Nest to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office inviting Jenkins to stop by the business and see their new firearms, as well as correspondence with ATF representatives about the protocol for an off-site demonstration.
In addition to Krop, four other witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the defense. They included the chief of the Havre de Grace Police Department, a former ATF special agent, and two-character witnesses.
