By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
It’s not difficult to gauge the ATF’s intent after their arrest of Patrick “Tate” Adamiak. Their agents’ actions and the false evidence they presented in court—under oath—speak louder than words.
It’s also not difficult to understand why the ATF presented nothing but false evidence during Adamiak’s trial. The government had nothing but false evidence. Adamiak, who was an active-duty Navy E-6, had always been extremely careful about the gun parts he bought and sold on his personal website.
We have examined almost every single major evidentiary item and charge the ATF made against the young sailor. The last items are four unfinished, completely stripped 80% side plates for a belt-fed M240 machinegun. Adamiak bought them at a good price over the internet. He did not need to fill out any forms or paperwork since the parts were not complete. Legally, they were merely unfinished pieces of metal.
“I legally purchased these plates from a legitimate business as unfinished, partially machined parts with no FFL required. I never attempted to complete them, they were never assembled, and they had no other parts with them. They are merely pieces of plate steel cut into the shape of M240 sides. They are only about at thick as the zip-tie holding them together. They were not for sale, and were just random parts in my collection,” Adamiak said last week.
The young sailor was charged with possessing four machineguns due to these parts, but before we get into the details, a quick review of his other charges is appropriate.
- Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing a machinegun because of a toy STEN submachinegun found during the search warrant. He paid $75 for the non-firing Spanish replica—or toy—which was made by Denix and is still sold online for hundreds of dollars more. The toys are still legally sold today without an FFL or any other paperwork.
- Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing five machineguns for possessing four legal and highly sought after “pre-ban” open-bolt semi-auto pistols and carbines, which are still legally sold today.
- Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing two destructive devices, two inert RPGs that had holes drilled into their receivers and were stripped of internal parts. ATF’s “expert” added parts from real RPGs until they would fire a single 7.62x39mm round. As a result, he classified the RPGs as destructive devices. The judge who oversaw Adamiak’s trial actually wrote that Adamiak “did not possess all parts of destructive devices,” which should have killed the charges. The fake RPGs are still legally sold today without an FFL or any other paperwork.
- Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing two destructive devices, which were actually flare launchers, which are still legally sold today without an FFL or any other paperwork.
- Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing 977 machineguns or MAC flats, which were nothing more than flat pieces of metal. Fortunately, former ATF senior official Daniel G. O’Kelly testified about these charges and explained the federal rules as they applied to the case. O’Kelly was able to prove that the pieces of stamped metal did not legally qualify as firearm receivers. His testimony saved Adamiak from an additional 10 years in prison. O’Kelly strongly believes Adamiak should be a free man. The flats are still legally sold today without an FFL or any other paperwork.
80% side plates
The last fake charge involved the four 80% machinegun side plates, which ATF’s expert witness, Firearm Enforcement Officer Jeffrey R. Bodell, claimed were four machineguns. Bodell was hired in November 2020. Adamiak’s trial, which was held two years later, was the first time Bodell ever testified in court.
The ATF has strict requirements about what is or isn’t a machinegun receiver, despite what Bodell told the court under oath. The Code of Federal Regulation (C.F.R.) demands that a machinegun must be a single housing that serves four separate functions. It must: house a hammer, house the bolt or breechblock, house the firing mechanism, and receive the barrel, (27 C.F.R. 478.11).
The M240 side plates did not have a hammer, housed no bolt or breechblock, housed no firing mechanism, and did not have any barrels. In fact, even if the side plates were real, many more parts would be needed to create an actual machinegun.
“A fully complete housing for a M240 consists of a left plate, right plate, bottom plate, top plate/bridge, trunnion, top cover/feeding mechanism, internal bolt guides/rails, a detachable fire control mechanism, dozens of rivets, which industrial tooling is required to install, and dozens of other small parts and hardware. A complete M240 machine gun consists of over 200 individual parts,” Adamiak said.
There are dozens of reasons why possession of the side plates should never have led to any criminal charges. Perhaps the best voice on this is Bodell himself.
In his personal report, Bodell wrote “Examination of the side plates revealed the side plates have NOT reached a final stage of manufacturing.” He added that “each of the side plates have reached a stage of manufacture in which they are clearly recognized as plates for a M240-type machine gun.”
Adamiak believes that Bodell’s last comment reveals that he used a new ATF rule, C.F.R 478.12, which was not put into effect until four months after Adamiak’s arrest.
“My parts were all evaluated under ATF interpretations of laws that were not published until August 2022. I was arrested in April 2022,” Adamiak said.
Bodell also claimed that since Adamiak had two sets of side plates, two left and two for the right side, this proved that he owned four actual machineguns. Adamiak strongly disagrees.
“For someone not keen on firearms, this would be like saying possessing the driver’s side and passenger side door of a car is equivalent to possessing two entire cars,” Adamiak said. “This is a total abuse of authority and ATF agency overreach. For one, the ATF does not have the authority to ‘hold or consider’ a part to be a firearm receiver. A part either is or is not a firearm receiver. This is an objective test, and the physical features of the part are what dictate that. The opinion of Bodell, any other ATF employee, prosecutor, or a judge is not the deciding factor if a part qualifies as a receiver. It’s the physical engineering and design features. That’s the test.”
We were last told Bodell works out of a small ATF office in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He claimed to have a Criminal Justice degree from a small Pennsylvania college. He obtained a diploma from a “Master Gunsmithing Program” in May 2017 at the Pennsylvania Gunsmith School, which is located in Pittsburgh. However, school officials did not return calls seeking verification. After earning his gunsmithing degree, Bodell’s CV shows he worked at three gun shops for short periods of time before joining that ATF.
Bodell did not respond to calls or messages left on his cell phone or with his employer. No photo of Bodell could be found.
Said Adamiak: “The way the ATF, and particularly Bodell, brazenly and recklessly classified items as firearms, machineguns none the less, which have life destroying felonious penalties—with no regard to the law—is nothing short of a blatant miscarriage of justice, perjury and fraud upon the court. Bodell’s actions should be criminal, and so should the prosecutors who are enforcing these laws, in which they have no clue how they apply to the actual evidence.”
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