Frederick Co. Sheriff indicted in scheme to unlawfully acquire machine guns

FREDERICK, Md. — Frederick County Sheriff Charles Austin Jenkins is facing charges after the Department of Justice said he unlawfully purchased machine guns for years.

According to the DOJ, 66-year-old Jenkins was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy and false statements in order to acquire machine guns.

Jenkins was charged alongside a second man, 36-year-old Robert Justin Krop, who was also charged with illegal possession of machine guns. 

The six-count indictment alleges that between August 2015 and May 2022, Jenkins and Krop worked together to unlawfully buy machine guns and falsify multiple documents on the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office letterhead requesting machine guns for evaluation and demonstration to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office. 

Prosecutors claim Krop drafted these documents for Jenkins' signature. 

The pair allegedly knew that there would never be a demonstration of the machine guns to the sheriff's office and that the guns were actually intended to be rented by Krop's customers.

Krop reportedly had seven machine guns in his possession. The indictment alleges that his business offered political support to the sheriff in recognition of his support for the business. 

Jenkins was elected sheriff in Frederick County in 2006 and was most recently re-elected in 2022.

If convicted, the men face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy, for false statements in records maintained by a federal firearms licensee and for false statements to federal law enforcement. Krop could receive an additional maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for illegal possession of a machine gun. 

Officer Smothers did more than secure the perimeter of Middletown, Maryland’s Middle & High Schools. He cared for the emotional well-being of the hundreds of student