By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Former U.S. Navy sailor Patrick “Tate” Adamiak still has 17 years left of his original 20-year criminal sentence, even though a lengthy examination of the evidence used against him raised significant questions about whether he even did anything wrong, much less illegal.
From 2016 to his arrest in 2022, Adamiak bought, sold and traded thousands of gun parts on GunBroker.com and later his own website.
“I never sold a single item that qualifies as a firearm or requires an FFL I only sold non-regulated gun parts,” Adamiak said this week. “It’s my opinion and my family’s that the ATF realized they messed up after they didn’t come up with a single illegal weapon, so they completely reinterpreted the statutes and implemented new rules to spin the jury and get a conviction. They manufactured crimes convict me.”
We have shown how items the ATF and federal prosecutors alleged were illegal are still sold legally online: Inert RPGs, toy STENs, open-bolt semi-autos and inert M79s and M203 launchers. Most do not even require any paperwork for the sale.
But the ATF’s falsehoods worked and Adamiak was convicted. How then was he sentenced to serve 20 years in a federal prison?
The answer is simple. Prosecutors and the court relied upon federal sentencing guidelines to determine how long Adamiak would spend behind bars, even though nothing found in his home was actually illegal.
The federal sentencing guidelines are based on a point system, which ranges from 1 to 43 points. The more points the inmate receives, the longer they will serve behind bars. Adamiak had zero criminal history, which should have put him in the least-severe category.
Here’s how Adamiak’s sentencing breaks down:
Base level: 18 points (27-33 months in prison)
This is what any defendant would receive for possessing a fully functional machinegun or a National Firearms Act weapon not registered under the NFA. Adamiak only had legal gun parts, none of which qualified as an actual machinegun or unregistered NFA weapon.
Quantity of firearms enhancement +6 points: Total 24 points (51-63 months in prison)
Adamiak was sentenced for possessing 35 “illegal” firearms. ATF agents included dozens of alleged machinegun receivers, toy guns, inert rocket launchers and semi-automatic handguns that fired from an open bolt. However, a thorough examination of the evidence shows that none of the items on their list actually qualified as illegal firearms, especially the toy guns.
Trafficking of firearms enhancement +4 points: Total 28 points (78-97 months in prison)
The ATF claimed Adamiak illegally sold gun parts to their confidential informant, including machinegun receivers. However, an examination of the evidence shows the parts Adamiak sold do not qualify as machinegun receivers under federal law. Instead, they’re simply legal gun parts, which can be sold without any paperwork.
Possession of missile or portable rocket launcher enhancement +15 points: Total 43 points
Were he not charged with possessing two inert RPGs, Adamiak would likely be a free man. This was the lengthiest enhancement to his sentence. Adamiak was sentenced for possessing two inert, nonfunctional, training-aid-dummy RPG launchers. These relics could not shoot, were missing all the internal fire control parts, and were possessed with inert rubber display rockets. This enhancement boosted Adamiak’s sentencing guidelines to life in prison, although the judge sentenced him to two decades behind bars instead, which the court said was due to the “serious nature of Defendant’s convictions and conduct.”
As a result, Adamiak must serve 20 years in prison plus three years of federal probation.
“To put it in perspective, I had 43 points,” Adamiak said this week.
This is the same number of points Adamiak would have received for a federal murder conviction.
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