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Frederick County Sheriff facing federal charges reinstates himself

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins is accused of unlawfully purchasing machine guns for years.

FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins took a leave of absence after being charged by the Department of Justice in April for allegedly assisting in a fraudulent scheme to obtain illegal machine guns for a local shooting range owner and political supporter. Now, he says it's time to get back to work. 

Jenkins released a memo Monday to Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater and the members of the Frederick County Council announcing his return to full duty status. 

"Effective immediately, I am formally ending my administrative leave of absence that began on April 14, 2023," said Jenkins in the memo. "I am resuming full duties as head of the agency including management and oversight of the day-to-day operations and all administrative and signatory responsibilities."

Jenkins is accused of unlawfully purchasing machine guns for years. In April, a six-count indictment alleged 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. 

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. Officials claim the shooting range received more than $100,000 in profits from the machine gun rentals in 2018 and 2019 alone. 

Jenkins says it was his decision to take a leave of absence and his decision to return to resume the full responsibilities and obligations as sheriff of Frederick County. 

“The leave of absence was self-imposed and there is no reason not to return to full duty at this point," he said. "My routine duties include the management of day-to-day operations, all administrative and management functions, and signatory obligations as the head of the agency."

The April indictment references letters between the gun range and Jenkins which falsely stated that the machine guns were "particularly suitable for use as a law enforcement weapon, due to cost, availability and its use in day to day to patrol as well as special operations," when in reality at least one of the machine guns was not. One of the weapons listed as only being suitable for combat. 

The court document claims for years, Jenkins signed law letters on Frederick County Sheriff's Office letterhead, addressed to Krop and his business falsely stating interest in firearm demonstrations for several brands of machine guns. Those letters were reportedly sent to licensed dealers and the ATF's NFA division. Based on the official letter, the transfer of the machine guns was approved to Krop and his business. 

Jenkins closed his memo citing the Maryland state constitution requirements calling for an elected sheriff for each county. 

“As a reminder, the Office of the Sheriff, is the only law enforcement officer mentioned in our state constitution and is the chief law enforcement office of the county," he wrote. "As it stands, I am still the elected Sheriff of Frederick County, and I am the only law enforcement officer directly accountable to the voting public.”

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