Initial hearing scheduled in re-indictment of Krop, co-owner of The Machine Gun Nest

Ceoli Jacoby, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

A federal court on Thursday set a date for the initial appearance of Robert Krop, a co-owner of The Machine Gun Nest who was re-indicted last month for his role in an alleged conspiracy to illegally acquire machine guns.

Krop is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore at 2:30 p.m. on July 10. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson will preside over the hearing.

Dan Cox, an attorney who is representing Krop in the case, could not be reached for comment by phone on Thursday.

Krop was first indicted in April 2023 alongside alleged co-conspirator Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, who is scheduled to go on trial in January.

However, federal prosecutors had to file a new indictment against Krop after U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found on May 3 that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.

The new indictment against Krop was filed on May 29. It lists the same five charges that were included in the original indictment, including one count of conspiracy to violate federal laws regarding machine guns, three counts of making false statements and one count of illegal possession of machine guns.

Krop has yet to enter a plea in the new case. He previously pleaded not guilty to the five charges in the original indictment.

Jenkins has been charged with one count of conspiracy to violate federal laws regarding machine guns and three counts of making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

The cases against both Jenkins and Krop center on a series of “law letters” in which Jenkins requested demonstrations of machine guns that Krop would not have otherwise been able to acquire.

At the time the letters were sent, The Machine Gun Nest held a license that allowed the business to import, transfer and possess machine guns for the purpose of providing demonstrations to law enforcement agencies, among other limited circumstances.

Federal prosecutors allege that, despite Jenkins’ statements that the Sheriff’s Office wanted a demonstration of the machine guns for purposes of “evaluation and familiarization,” a demonstration never happened.

Krop has previously stated in court filings that he contacted Jenkins in an attempt to set up demonstrations of the machine guns for the Sheriff’s Office.