In the Autokey Card case, a jury found Matthew Hoover, better known as CRS Firearms on YouTube, and Justin Ervin guilty.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) charged the men with violating the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 for selling machineguns and conspiracy. Ervin faced an additional charge of structuring. The case stems from Mr. Ervin selling a metal card with an image inspired by a lightning link etched into it. Ervin sold the cards as a novelty and contracted with Mr. Hoover to promote the card on his popular YouTube Channel.
The ATF arrested Ervin in April of 2021 and charged him with transferring unregistered machineguns. Mr. Ervin was denied bail and has been locked up since his arrest. Hoover used his platform to raise money for Ervin’s legal defense. The ATF viewed the fundraising activities as conspiracy and accused the men of running a criminal enterprise. A year after Ervin was arrested, the ATF raided Hoover’s house and took him into custody.
This time a Wisconsin judge released Hoover on his own recognizance, saying he didn’t believe the YouTuber was a flight risk or a danger to society. The U.S. Attorney pushed for Hoover to be kept in custody, but her arguments fell short.
The trial ran for two weeks. AmmoLand News recapped the first week. This week six of Hoover’s viewers testified. Four of the witnesses stated that they bought the Autokey Card after seeing it on the CRS Firearms YouTube channel but never intended to cut it out. Another witness nervously testified he bought the item to make a machinegun and accused CRS firearms of encouraging his viewers to break the law.
The final witness stated he was driving when he heard automatic gunfire. He said he pulled over and found three men in a field. The men had two Autokey Cards. One was cut out, and one wasn’t. The men gave him both because they couldn’t get it to work. The man is a machinist and figured he could use his skills to get the item to function. After hours of trying and failing, he threw away the cut-out Autokey Card. When he saw the arrest of Ervin, he contacted a lawyer that arranged for him to turn it in to the ATF.
The ATF examiners also testified and showed a ten-second low-quality video of an AR-15 firing automatically with a cut-out Autokey Card. There was no video before or after the firing.
When pressed, the ATF admitted they could only get one of the three Autokey Cards they possessed to work. They also admitted to jamming the Autokey Card into the firearm to create hammer follow.
This action is similar to where the ATF ruled a sliver of metal to be a machinegun.
The ATF also admitted that the Bureau assigned twelve agents to collect Autokey Cards from the public before being told to stop by their higher-ups, who thought it was a waste of money. The ATF employees also admitted to taking classes on convincing a jury of their testimony.
On Tuesday night, the U.S. Attorney’s Office requested that the jury be instructed that the Autokey Card is a machinegun whether it works or not and that they must rule if the men transferred the items and if the men’s intent was to transfer uncut lightning links. They also wanted the judge to prevent the defense from arguing that the Autokey Card was not a machinegun.
The judge was annoyed at the prosecution for springing the request at such a late hour. The judge refused most of the proposed jury instructions. The prosecution also asked for an hour and thirty minutes for closing arguments. The judge told the prosecution to limit their arguments to 45 minutes.
The defense asked for the case to be dismissed. The prosecution asked the judge to deny the request. The judge did not deny the request but said she would wait until after the jury returned a verdict. That verdict is now in after the jury deliberated for five hours.
Mr. Ervin was found guilty on one charge of structuring. Structuring is a financial crime where a person structures withdraws to avoid red flags. Withdraws over $10,000 triggers and automatic investigation. In addition to the structuring charge he was also charged with conspiracy. Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act. The final ten charges were ten counts of transferring machineguns.
Mr. Hoover was found guilty of five of the eight charges, including four charges of transferring machineguns and one charge of conspiracy.
Hoover was remanded into custody because the federal prosecutor stated she felt personally “threatened” by Mr. Hoover. Ervin has been in federal custody for the last two years and will remain in custody.
The men will be held until sentencing on July 31, 2023.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
This is really sad news, l don’t understand how the jury got this all wrong.
Prosecution stacked the jury with anti-gun Democrats with I.Q.’s of double figures. Judge could still set aside the verdict and dismiss or reverse findings but that’s unlikely to happen. A complete miscarriage of justice, this is the woke Biden-post Trump brown shirt era. Nobody is safe. Well except Hollywood a$$holes like Alec Baldwin.
I doubt that even the combined IQ of the jury reached double digits.
Maybe it’s time to make THEM not feel safe…
Based on my personal experience here in East Texas, both the prosecution and defense try to select low-information jurors. If you ask questions or pay close attention, you are excluded from the jury pool. They do not want thinking jurors!
I FULLY understand how and why, it’s because the legal system is a crime syndicate!! If you expose the crimes of the legal system, it instantly loses ALL of its illusions of power and authority! The legal system is a planet wide Mafia, and no one can prove otherwise.
The DOJ is weaponized… Does anyone think if Bragg actually makes it to trial with his unidentified federal crime that Trump will get a “jury of his peers” in Manhattan?
They got it all wrong because the judge is a liar and he lied to them and since they were edjakated in the 10th plank communist manifesto schools, the didn’t know any better. No excuse, but it is the reason. I would have hung the jury if I had been on it. Or convinced the other jurors of the insanity of the idea that piece of metal by itself is somehow a crime.
Anyone with a semi-auto gun in their home or car can be charged with constructive posession of a machine gun under current law. Materials found in ones home or car fit ATF’s interpetation of a machine gun.
Heaven help a gun owner with metal working tools, books on firearms, and metal scraps should they become the target of the ATF.
The image gets larger and comes into focus if you click on it.
Close your eyes:
Not sure I am free enough to look at that image…
It’s probably an ATF agent waiting for people to click on it. The ATF is probably trying to drum-up some work for their agents bc it’s coming up on another important election.
Anyone who has been on this site for a while knows I am anything but an agent or a troll. Posting the image is just one way for me to express political free speech. My thoughts about much of what ATF has done recently, especially this case, would get a big FCC fine if broadcast over the air. I suggested click because the image is fuzzy until you do and someone might like to read the dimensions. The image is from “The Complete AR-15/M16 Sourcebook”, which also has drawings for other conversion devices.
I’ve seen your website and appreciate that you are exercising free speech. Someone needs to. I pray you have better luck than the two gentlemen in the sh-crap we are talking about. I think at this point, it might be “constructive intent” just to have a copy in the cache on my PC. Sound crazy? well the autokey card case sounds crazy to me. Good luck to you brother.
Care to send me the URL? Didn’t know I had a website. What I do have is plenty of free speech. e.g.
Sorry mixed you up with someone else. https://ctrlpew.com/
I’m sorry too – very cool website and wish I could take credit for it.
That is a cool website. I think that a whole new world has just opened up!
I hope I didn’t offend you DiY, was just being my normal smartass self who doesn’t trust anyone, especially unelected bureaucrats who are more corrupt than the elected officials that put them into office. Warfinge says below that you have a website, think I’ll come check it out! ✌
I better check out my website too since I did not know I have one! You should have thick skin to post here since someone is always offended. I’m not by your well deserved skepticism. The only reply that hurt was when an author took extreme umbrage to me saying he was wrong about one paragraph in the Heller decision. Best regards…
OH NO!!! WORSE YET, YOU MIGHT HAVE A FELONY COPY OF “The Complete AR-15/M16 Sourcebook”. Now you’re really up shits creek!
Where’s @Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH when we need him? Is that supposed to be “Shits creek” or “Shits Creek” or “shit’s creek”?
Who the hell would want a full auto ‘only’ gun. Ammo is still too expensive.
I can think of several belt fed full auto firearms I would want. And I’d pony up for the ammo if/when I own(ed) one (or more.)
Rock and roll, baby.
It’s irrelevant that it’s full auto only. It’s a matter of principle as to whether American citizens have the right to own newly manufactured machine guns
And you will now be hearing your door knock and an agent of the defacto government say, “Hello, we saw your post on Ammo Land and you are under arrest for posting a picture of something that is a machine gun.”
Now you did it. I saw it too and now they will be visiting me too. Thanks a lot!
There is what a Man can do & a man cannot do.
I find it strange the judge has not ruled on dismissing the case. If she believes it worth dismissing, she should have saved the effort of a trial. This is a thought crime.
This is such a HUGE miscarriage of justice.
I hope the “13th Juror” does their duty, and dismisses this case.
Not a chance. The judge was “afraid” of Matt and remanded him into custody. Do not expect this judge to do the “ honorable” thing.
If he had even a scintilla of honor to his name, he wouldn’t be a criminal posing as a real judge in the first place!! Criminals ALWAYS band together to protect each other, it’s the nature of their business!
Not “he” – “she”
The person ‘afraid’ wasn’t the judge it was the federal prosecutor. The judges failure was not dismissing the claim outright.
Not the judge…..the prosecutor stated fear, old prosecutor ploy, probably to prevent Hoover being freed by whatever means. .
This needs to go to the Supreme Court. It is a an obvious violation of several Constitutional rights.
It only takes a little creative thinking to see this work out against the ATF. If it is the mere thought & inscription on a card, then selling guns to the cartels,(Eric Holder & Barak Obama) shooting Viki Weaver dead & burning down the Waco branch davidians with small children in it, creating a database is definately a crime of which an Agency is guilty of.
Don’t forget the murdering (Fast & Furious stunt/ of fellow U.S. Marine and U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC Agent Brian Terry.
Thats why i mentioned Eric Holder.
Oh, is that the same USSC/SCOTUS that made the egregious mistake in 1973 with Roe v. Wade, and then let it stand for 49 years before correcting said mistake, you mean that one??
Yeah – so they will let Matt and Justin out. Just might take 50 years to get around to it.
It looks like ATF may try to seize Hoover’s house, leaving his wife and child(ren) destitute and homeless. Can anyone wrap their head around it now being a crime to try and raise money for someone’s legal defense?
They want to keep their advantage of a limitless legal budget vs normal people . Isn’t the guy fighting cancer as well?
But that entire unlimited legal system budget disappears in a cloud of smoke, when you expose the fact that it is being used to commit crimes against Humanity!! Who can prove me to be wrong here? What facts and logic can defeat me?
I think I saw him mention in a youtube video a month or two ago that he was cancer free.
I smell a RAT Read more: The final witness stated he was driving when he heard automatic gunfire. He said he pulled over and found three men in a field. The men had two Autokey Cards. One was cut out, and one wasn’t. The men gave him both because they couldn’t get it to work. The man is a machinist and figured he could use his skills to get the item to function. After hours of trying and failing, he threw away the cut-out Autokey Card. When he saw the arrest of Ervin, he contacted a lawyer that arranged for… Read more »
Yeah, THAT’s the first thing I would do is run up on 3 strangers after hearing automatic gunfire! And for three of them to just hand me their key cards because they couldn’t figure them out? GOVERNMENT PLANT TO SWAY THE JURY! THIS testimony could have easily been destroyed had the attorney(ies) had any balls!
Hoover was represented by Matt LaRoisse, who runs the Fudd Busters YT channel. LaRoisse is a fierce 2A advocate and was basically working for free on this case. If the prosecution successfully objects to all of the defense’s questions and the sheeple jurors disregard everything objected to, the defense is screwed. The US Attorney made the whole case come down to did they or did they not make and or sell/promote these items. The prosecution was certainly evil but quite smart and had unlimited resources. Hopefully we’ll eventually have access to audio/video or transcripts so we can see what a… Read more »
In addition, if he heard “automatic gunfire”, how come they gave them to him because they “couldn’t get them to work”.
Yep, it stinks to high heaven.
Doesn’t take a Colombo to figure this agent was a plant.
Yeah, that was going to be my comment too in a minute! How can he give something to anyone, AFTER he threw it away? And if it doesn’t work, then how can there be any case against the two men? Can someone be convicted of selling alcohol without a license, if the bottle is filled with nothing but pure water? In a 100% corrupted legal system, yes, it does seem to be so!
The sketchy witness said he threw away the cut up card and turned over the uncut one to the AFT.
Curious how he hears automatic gunfire when the cut out auto keycard didn’t work. He also stated he is a machinist and couldn’t get it to work and threw it away. He mustn’t be much of a machinist, I am a machinist, and you could get that to work with a Dremel and a couple Swiss pattern files, he wouldn’t make it through his shift where I work if he is that unskilled.
Federal SNAPPER
Any say “Ray Epps”?
FATF and FJB…
Sadly, no IQ test to be a juror.
🙁
And “jury nullification” isn’t taught often enough – if at all
So true!
Is “ Militia” taught at all ?
They already have the left wing search engine (GOOGLE) on their side as well. Even if these students search for the real truth their parents warned them about, Google and the likes will just either bury the real results somewhere or delete them altogether. Maybe that’s what the Mandela Effect is really about. Maybe that was a govt experiment to see how we would react when our memories do not match online search results, like what is happening with the Mandela Effect. For those who don’t know, pls look it up. Def not the first time our “DICKtators” have rewritten… Read more »
Then how about legal system nullification instead, as I have presented here many times now? If you expose the crimes that the legal system is committing, how does anyone in it justify their actions?
“jury nullification” should be a mandatory inclusion in every “jury instruction” regardless of the level of court.
More than that, people need to be educated in the fact that the entire legal system is a con game! If we cannot be guaranteed to get a fair trial, then why do we have to go there?!?!
or to vote
what a crock!
why is the jury foreman’s name redacted? shouldn’t that be public knowledge?
kcuf batfe along with their big sister doj.
no respect.
kcuf ????
Read backwards…
It’s a withdraw of a previous action.
Add this to the steam roller hopefully Matt Gaetz put in motion.
Where was the trial, inside of a blue city? These men were definitely not judged by a jury of their peers bc this shit is insane! The NFA needs to be removed from law! I’m so fed up with these commie bastards!
It was held in Jacksonville FL. That city actually has a Republican mayor and red majority city council. I only know this because I read a news story about Kommiefornia Governor Gavin Nuisance aka Hair Gel Hitler announcing the latest plan that won’t stop the fentanyl epidemic in San Francisco. In his speech or press release he threw shade at Jacksonville and Ft. Worth TX.,claiming they had more violent crime than SF. Purely coincidental I’m sure.
Dear Abby;
I nibbled a cracker into the shape of an Auto Key Card, do I need a lawyer? And can VP Harris raise money for my bail ( if I get bail )
Asking for a friend .
Only if you hear auto machinegun fire, so stay away from any Snap, Crackle & Pop cereals!
So a clear message to those that dabble at the boundaries of freedom. A malicious will to disarm the public and a limitless legal budget will carry the day. Those cards are clearly not anything close to a machinegun. That a jury saw them as such is pretty much the lesson of the day. Like the Chinese solvent traps still being peddled in social media, they are being outlawed as they sneak up on 80% GhOsTguNs!!. This conviction will be used if it stands as leverage on the aftermarket. Trigger kits, Uppers, most upgrades will eventually be machine guns because… Read more »
The day is coming when our people will need to stand firm to fight the tyranny our forefathers warned us about. There’s a line in the sand, that if crossed by the tyrants in charge, will force us to stand up and fight. That line is different for everyone I feel but we as a community need to work together to define that line bc none of us can manage this fight alone. God Bless America and F@ck Joe Biden!
Regrettably we are hamstrung by our golden handcuffs.
Matt risked and gave up his family, house and freedom…….who is next to step into the breach……..everyone or no one?
10th Amendment
The truth is, we are that well regulated militia the founders framed the 2A for. Sadly, I think the culture has left us behind and the Dylan Mulvaneys of the nation are the ones cued up to fight for liberty. I am an old timer and my days are numbered. If we don’t yank our grand kids out of this political cesspit and impart some wisdom before they grow up, they will be unarmed and helpless to whatever the future generations of Autocrats choose to do to them.
That’s why the prosecution is so evil. They were able to boil the whole question crown to whether or not Ervin sold those things and Hoover promoted them. That’s how lawyers work on both sides. After the Bruen decision, many asked why the need for government permission to carry wasn’t struck down. The plaintiffs weren’t challenging the need for a permit, just the ability of the state to arbitrarily deny one.
Good luck finding anyone currently employed by the government to testify against the government.
We are screwed!!
You are giving a spiked jury far too much information to comprehend. You would need to break it down into the simplest of terms, such as place the item in their hands, one-by-one and tell them to SHOOT IT! Make a total ass out of the prosecution and plaintiffs at each and every turn. “C’MON DAMMIT! SHOOT THE DAMN THING ALREADY!” Then pass it onto the next juror and demand the very same until they ALL get a chance to SHOOT THE DAMN MACHINEGUN! Defense rests.
Because the dumbasses that sit on these juries are not WELL INFORMED nor understand that full auto anything is virtually worthless unless you are maneuvering in a military type squad performing specific military type operations or missions. Or you’re just going to the annua full auto machinegun shoot TO HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!
Shall not be infringed. When exactly is the time to start shooting these treasonous government stooges? This is America, time to refresh the tree of liberty
There’s never a militia around when you need one !
I’m pretty sure that if you were to get at the least, 66% of the country to stand in unison with your request, it will be done without firing a single shot.
Wisconsin, like Minnesota and Michigan have all gone to hell. Plastic key cards and slivers of metal are declared machine guns and a jury of useful idiots buys into it. Incredible.
The auto-key-card was reportedly made from stainless steel with a drawing purported to be a lightning link etched onto one surface. If ATF only got 1 of 4 to work, it would be of interest to see how close the functional one was to the the drawing. If not close to exact, then it is another reason to throw the case out.
This case brings forth the action a jury can use: NULLIFICATION!!!
Auto key card, If any piece of metal can become a machine gun.
Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.
And Home Despot is a gun store…
Ervin and Hoover may now be considered political prisoners, along with the J6 prisoners that are rotting in the DC gulag, with no bail. Whatever happened to Habeas Corpus ? Did FJB sign an executive order eliminating it ?
EMERGENCY ORDERS AND APPEALS ALL AROUND!
Of course they’re guilty and of course Baldwin is completely INNOCENT.
sarc/snarc
By the same token, any screw on the rifle can be claimed to be a machine gun. This is a bad precendent.
the ATF made an example of Ervin and Hoover, proof that you are guilty until proven innocent. the ATF was going to lock those two up regardless on a case that should have been thrown out of the courts. another example that the jury was bought off. that just goes to show that our Court system is fallible and corrupt. there is no such thing as WE THE PEOPLE, and our 2nd Amendment rights will never ever be restored, to its full glory, unless the firearms, and 2a community, can stand together, and we all know that is not going… Read more »
Communism is alive and well in the USSSofA. The Jury swallowed the cool-aid,
Mr. Crump: Your story features the image of the key card. Aren’t you worried that the image on an electronic document might be construed “a machine gun?” If printing it on metal isn’t protected free speech, what keeps the DOJ from construing a printing on the internet as a violation of law?
Are there no parts diagrams with precise measurements out there in federal libraries, showing the specs of every military machine gun? Why aren’t those books deemed “machine guns?”
Why isn’t a book that tells how to mix fertilizer and diesel considered “a bomb” by the DOJ?
Madness.
The rules of procedure and evidence in federal court so favor the prosecution (because they were written by prosecutors) that I would never want to be tried for a federal crime. American jurors are as wise or foolish as the populace, which means American juries strongly tend toward foolish. This is why 90% of Federal trials end in convictions. And, defense attorneys are so aware of the rigged game in federal court that they get innocent defendants to plead guilty and take a couple years in prison, rather than face the draconian sentences most federal crimes can bring. The only… Read more »
My earlier posting got delayed and “reviewed as possible spam”, when it was not that at all. It may have been a bit long as I covered a lot of ground with it, but I think it was deleted because I called the honesty and integrity of the author of this article into question. I still say and can prove that the legal system is a huge scam and con game, while nobody can prove otherwise.
My speedometer reads 140 on my car. Does that mean that every time that I drive my car that I can get a ticket because I might drive faster than the speed limit?
Crumpy, is there an audio of the trial available? I’d spend some time listening, especially cross examination of ATF employee witnesses. Did they ask the last one: “Yes or no, counts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 were for failing to have these card entered into the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, correct?” “Yes or no, would ATF have allowed the defendants to enter these items into said record if they made the application and paid any necessary fees?” No legal point, just put it in the minds of the jurors that for most… Read more »
Ya, I mean I like his attorney he had (Fuddbusters YT channel), but I am wondering if he did an adequate job. I know GOA offered a while back to send their lawyers to help and Matt said no thanks, presumably due to loyalty…. or honestly I have no idea why he would have turned them down.
That is why in district 5 the NFA was ruled unconstitutional. They won’t accept the tax or registration since Hughes was pushed through with a bs voice vote. US v Rock island Armory. In sum, since enactment of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), the Secretary has refused to accept any tax payments to make or transfer a machinegun made after May 19, 1986, to approve any such making or transfer, or to register any such machinegun. As applied to machineguns made and possessed after May 19, 1986, the registration and other requirements of the National Firearms Act, Chapter 53 of the… Read more »
But… let’s look at just the facts and logic of the most egregious crime regarding the legal system here, which is that we’re told all of the time that we have a Right to a fair and speedy trial, but not once EVER, are we told that we have any kind of a guarantee of actually GETTING one! No such guarantee can ever be made, because men and women make mistakes all of the time! Even in the matter of the life or death of unborn babies, like say in Roe v. Wade, can the USSC/SCOTUS, be counted upon to… Read more »
Can anyone say “ Militia “ ?
LIE >>>> “The final witness stated he was driving when he heard automatic gunfire. He said he pulled over and found three men in a field. The men had two Autokey Cards. One was cut out, and one wasn’t. The men gave him both because they couldn’t get it to work.”
So how does he hear automatic gun fire if they couldn’t get it to work??? And they are $100, so these three random guys give a stranger $200 worth of stuff??? This is complete bullshit…
Seems like a good case for jury nullification. Too bad the jurors had no courage.
Dear Mr. Crump, Can you please explain to me, where anyone’s factual obligation to participate in the legal system in any way, shape or form, originates from? Even IF the legal system was not either a gamble or a crime syndicate, do we have to do any business with the men and women who run it, if we don’t want to? The proof that the legal system is a business set up to generate profits, is the fact that every courtroom in America is listed in Dun & Bradstreet! If the legal system is not a business, then why is… Read more »
What percentage of gangbangers using Glock switches to shoot (at) people are being prosecuted? Oh sorry, wrong class of people. The people who would get a chuckle out of having or displaying an auto keycard are obviously of the deplorable political persuasion and must be persecuted to the fullest extension of the law (sic intentional). And certainly no kickbacks from them whereas the Democrats soft on crime policies certainly has all the hallmarks of political corruption.
All of this, and not even one word from either defendant about where is their written guarantee of actually getting a fair trial located, so they can read it for themselves, and not have to rely upon someone telling them about it?? Why won’t anybody either ask or answer that one, simple question? Surely it can’t be any more difficult a question to understand than if the sun is going to come up in the morning, is it?? The legal system is a cesspool of crimes and criminals, it’s not some lofty haven of virtuous men and women like you… Read more »