By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Federal inmate #95252-509, Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, is starting the third year of his 20-year sentence behind bars at a decrepit prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
Despite his lengthy federal sentence, Adamiak did nothing wrong. He broke no laws or ATF regulations. The more than 30 stories we have written about his federal charges have proven that.
Adamiak’s appellate attorney, Matt Larosiere, is enraged.
“Tate did absolutely nothing wrong, aside from exercising his rights, and not even his Second Amendment rights,” Larosiere said Monday. “Apparently, the Biden administration and now the Trump administration ratifies punishing people for engaging in lawful commerce.”
Adamiak has a resentencing hearing scheduled in June.
“Nothing is happening there,” Larosiere said. “The government is still holding fast to their ‘We want to kill this guy’ attitude. We still need to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, and within 45 days it will be filed.”
Larosiere does not think much of the government’s subtle, behind-the-scenes interest in Adamiak’s case.
“It was really disruptive,” he said. “Words without action really took a lot of effort away from preparing the actual case—chasing empty promises.”
Biden-era ATF arrest Adamiak, who at the time was an active-duty Navy E-6, was arrested and charged by the ATF during the height of the Biden Administration’s war on guns, gun owners, gun rights and the Second Amendment.
After ATF agents kicked down his doors, they found nothing illegal or even suspected of being illegal. As a result, the ATF brought in a specialist, ATF Firearm Enforcement Officer Jeffrey R. Bodell, who discombobulated the actual items that the agents had found—all of which are still sold legally online, most do not even require an ID—and turned them into machineguns and destructive devices.
For example, Adamiak was charged with illegally possessing a machinegun for 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. Bodell inserted a real STEN barrel and receiver, neither Bodell nor his assistant could make it fire more than one round at a time. Despite their hard work, the toy STEN would not even accept a real magazine. Still, Bodell officially ruled that the toy was a machinegun.
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 subcaliber 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 four 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 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.
Adamiak’s current plight
Adamiak had been accepted to attend BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) and would likely be leading a Navy SEAL platoon, if the ATF had just left him alone or admitted they found nothing illegal in his home. That alone is a massive loss for this country.
It also needs to be stressed that today’s ATF agents under President Donald J. Trump have stopped these types of arrests. ATF technicians no longer convert commonly sold legal items into machineguns or rocket launchers. However, even though today’s ATF agents are 100% aware of Adamiak’s horrific legal situation that their own agency caused, he remains behind bars.
Adamiak spends his days like any other federal inmate. However, there’s one massive difference. The entire prison system knows he’s not guilty of committing any crime.
His imprisonment hasn’t really affected his attitude, at least not yet. He remains incredibly polite and keeps himself in high spirits, or at least that’s how he wants to be perceived, especially by his dad and brother. His mother died shortly after his arrest.
He had hoped that President Trump or those he put in charge of federal agencies like the ATF would notice his innocence and act, but so far, nothing substantive has materialized. Adamiak remains federal inmate #95252-509.
There have been some changes at ATF since President Trump was elected. The agency has taken some positive, albeit small, steps. Unfortunately, none of it matters because Adamiak remains behind bars.
If ATF’s new leadership wants their agency to be viewed as a real federal law enforcement agency they must clean up the mess left by the previous administration. Its victims, like Adamiak, cannot be left to rot in prison, and they most certainly cannot be ignored.
“I did nothing wrong. I broke no laws, but I have 17 more years to spend in prison,” Adamiak said Monday. “I hope the new administration takes a look at what actually happened here, reviews the evidence and does the right thing. I am not asking for anything special. Nothing I owned was illegal. I should not be in prison.”
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