By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Special to Liberty Park Press
Anyone who still believes that former U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick “Tate” Adamiak must have done something wrong or illegal in order to justify his 20-year federal prison sentence need only look at the documents his team has just released.
The documents are damning, but not for Adamiak.
The documents are damning for the ATF.
The documents show that the ATF was severely screwed after they stormed into Adamiak’s home based solely on an informant’s misinformation, because they found nothing illegal.
The documents show how the ATF then took extremely questionable steps to charge the now 31-year-old with illegally possessing 31 machineguns and four destructive devices, even though none of the items the ATF found are actually machineguns or destructive devices.
After their botched raid, the ATF had to try something – anything – to avoid looking like complete idiots, Adamiak’s father believes.
However, the actions ATF took only made the entire situation much worse. Adamiak had no prior criminal record until the ATF kicked in his doors. He was already in the pipeline to become a U.S. Navy SEAL.
For those who value freedom, even a quick review of Adamiak’s documents will bring on confusion and possibly even anger – none more so than the page about his toy STEN submachinegun.
The fact it was a toy wasn’t enough for ATF agents, who were desperately seeking criminal charges.
“After disassembling the replica, ATF agents inserted a real STEN bolt and barrel sourced from the agency’s own inventory into the toy, crudely securing the parts with electrical tape. Because the prop couldn’t accept a magazine, they manually chambered a single round, fired it, and used this staged action to penalize Tate with possession of an unregistered machine gun,” the documents state.
It should be pointed out that the real STEN barrel and bolt are capable of firing a single round on their own, without adding them to any toy submachinegun.
Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing one machinegun for the toy STEN. However, he was charged for illegally possessing four machineguns for legal MAC-type pistols, which fire only semi-automatically from an open bolt.
According to the documents, the MAC pistols:
“Do NOT shoot more than one shot by a single function of the trigger. (NOTE: ATF employees attempted three separate times with different ammunitions to get the pistols to fire automatically. Each attempt resulted in a single shot per pull of the trigger.) Were unmodified and in original factory condition. Were legally purchased through an FFL and transferred on an ATF 4473 form. Were exempt from machine gun classification under the National Firearms Act (NFA) as per ATF rule 82-8.” the documents state.
What’s not said is that the MACs are extremely expensive and highly sought after by other collectors, who unlike Adamiak have never been the subject of ATF raids or investigations.
Perhaps the greatest overreach by the ATF was charging Adamiak with illegally possessing two destructing devices, which they called “demilitarized Soviet-era RPG-7 grenade launcher relic, commonly sold as surplus for display and collectability purposes.”
According to his documents, the RPGs:
“Were undisputedly non-functional while in Tate’s possession. Were only possessed with 100% rubber inert display rockets (no live explosives). Were openly displayed in Tate’s home office for nearly a decade before his arrest. Were missing ALL the critical fire control components. Had a hole bored in the high-pressure chamber area of the tube, which was recognized that if attempted to shoot, it would ‘remove the users head.’ Were conspicuously engraved ‘INERT’ and labeled ‘TRAINING AID DUMMY,’” the documents state.
Neither the inert RPGs nor any of the other items described in Adamiak’s documents were illegal to possess. In fact, the vast majority can be shipped directly to anyone without an ID or background check, much less an FFL.
That the ATF charged Adamiak with possessing these legal-to-own items, which are still legally sold online, proves they lacked any real criminal charges.
History
The government’s case against Adamiak was led by two Assistant U.S. Attorneys, but their main witness became the real reason why a jury found Adamiak guilty, and a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Jeffrey R. Bodell, who works out of a small ATF office in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was the state’s main witness.
Bodell is an ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer, or FEO, who has worked in ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division since he was hired in November 2020.
When he took the stand to testify about what he did to Adamiak’s firearms, Bodell had been an ATF employee for less than two years.
Most damning was the fact that this was the first time Bodell had ever testified at any trial. He is also the ATF staffer who turned toys into firearms and legal semi-autos into machineguns.
Takeaways
Adamiak has asked President Donald J. Trump for a presidential pardon. If he doesn’t receive one, Adamiak has been working on an appeal. Three new federal prosecutors will be handling any appeal. Of the old crew that got him imprisoned for two decades, one prosecutor is dead, one retired and the third, who was only a temporary assistant, has since left the office.
Unfortunately for Adamiak, the ATF knows that the items that became evidence at his trial were not illegal, but since the prosecutors used them successfully, they will likely also be used as evidence during his appeal.
None of ATF’s mistreatment is new to Tate’s father, Dave Adamiak. No one has worked harder to get Tate out of prison.
Dave Adamiak has a simple but truthful way of looking at the charges ATF filed against his son after their botched raid.
“They had to fabricate a case, so they didn’t look like jackasses.” he said Monday morning. “That’s the bottom line.”
Adamiak agrees with his father.
Said Tate Adamiak: “It’s incredible that all of this even happened. Now, there are new prosecutors assigned to my appeal. I wish they had the courage to make the hard call and step up and admit that a mistake was made and then correct it. Don’t let me sit in prison any longer. This was Joe Biden’s fault, not President Trump’s.”
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