Robert Krop, flanked by his wife, Stephanie, and his attorney Dan Cox, leaves the U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Tuesday after being acquitted of all the charges against him. Photo by Graham Cullen/Frederick News-Post.
By Ceoli Jacoby
The Frederick News-Post
A Frederick gun shop owner accused of conspiring with the county sheriff to illegally acquire seven machine guns was acquitted on all counts by a federal district court jury Tuesday.
Robert Krop’s trial, which began last week, was originally scheduled to last through this Thursday, but the case was handed Monday afternoon to the jury, which returned its verdict Tuesday after about 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. Once the jury was excused, Krop stood up and embraced his lead attorney, Dan Cox, while several people with Krop broke down in tears.
The group left the courtroom and joined in a prayer led by Krop family pastor Johnny Yoho, who had testified as a character witness for Krop, who fell to his knees once the prayer was finished outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Baltimore. 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.”
Federal prosecutors charged that Krop, who owns The Machine Gun Nest, and Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins had conspired to illegally acquire seven machine guns by misleading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about the intended purpose of the weapons.
Letter signed by Jenkins and submitted to the ATF indicated that the machine guns would be transferred to The Machine Gun Nest, which would then demonstrate the weapons to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.
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: one FN Herstal SCAR 17, two FN Herstal SCAR 17s, with different barrel lengths, a KRISS Vector SMG, a Remington ACR, a FN P90 Tactical and one FN M249 SAW.
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 May 3 after U.S. District Judge Stephanie 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.
Charges against Krop 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, with 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, up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine;
Making false statements to the ATF, up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine; and
Unlawful possession of a machine gun, which is up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each charge.
Earlier this month, Krop rejected two plea offers from federal prosecutors, allowing the trial to proceed.
At trial, 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. Witnesses included ATF officials, former and current members of the sheriff’s office, and current and former employees of The Machine Gun Nest.
The defense presented emails from gun shop workers to the sheriff’s office, inviting Jenkins to come by and see weapons, as well as correspondence with ATF representatives about the protocol for an off-site demonstration. Defense witnesses inclued Krop, the chief of the Havre de Grace Police Department, a former ATF special agent and two character witnesses.
Krop’s attorneys pointed out during the trial that the ATF’s own policies do not define a demonstration. That alone created enough of a reasonable doubt to acquit Krop, defense attorney Luke Cass said during closing arguments.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore said in an email Tuesday that the office had no comment on Krop’s acquittal or the case against Jenkins, who is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27.
But Jenkins’ attorney, Andrea Smith, said Tuesday that she hoped the Justice Department would consider dismissing the charges against the sheriff, which include the conspiracy charge and three counts of making false statements.
“Neither case was founded, in my humble opinion, but if anything, the case against Krop was stronger,” Smith said in a phone interview. “If they can’t convict Mr. Krop, good luck convicting Sheriff Jenkins. … But if they insist on proceeding, we’ll be there to fight it.”