By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
There was initially a lot of talk about releasing Patrick “Tate” Adamiak from federal custody after President Donald Trump won his second term.
One senior government official actually said Adamiak would be “home by Christmas” of last year, which thrilled Adamiak’s family. After all, to this day they remain totally convinced he did absolutely nothing wrong—certainly nothing illegal.
Unfortunately, the 31-year-old remains behind bars, with no sign he’s even being discussed, much less released.
Adamiak was sentenced to serve 20 years behind bars in June 2023.
To be clear, he has been in federal prison about a month longer under President Trump than under Joe Biden, and this time is increasing every single minute of every single day.
There is no debate about which president is responsible for putting the former active-duty Navy E-6 in prison. Biden and his corrupt ATF bear responsibility for this, like they do for killing another one of their “suspects,” Bryan Malinowski, who like Adamiak had never been arrested, not even once.
The Trump Administration has kept Adamiak’s pardon request active, unlike the hundreds of other pardons that were denied. Adamiak’s family still has hope he will be pardoned someday, but their hope decreases as his time behind bars increases.
There is no doubt President Trump has been busy during his second round in the White House. His incredibly rigorous schedule is far from the presidential norm. His work restoring and upholding the Second Amendment has been simply amazing—unlike that of any other president in American history. Still, all it would take is a word to a staffer and Adamiak could be a free man. That’s how easily presidential pardons can work.
Adamiak’s next court hearing is Sept. 30t, but no one thinks much will happen. Arenda L. Wright Allen, the federal judge in charge of his case, saw to that. She cancelled a hearing that was scheduled for June and gagged Adamiak’s defense attorney during the resentencing hearing next month.
“His objections were previously addressed at his sentencing hearing and affirmed by the Fourth Circuit and cannot be re-raised at this resentencing hearing. Accordingly, the Court is precluded from considering, and will not hear, any evidence or argument on the objections at the resentencing hearing,” Judge Wright Allen wrote.
Calum Welch, Adamiak’s defense attorney, doesn’t know if a pardon will ever occur, but he remains busy “advocating for Tate’s interests.”
“Since we’re stuck in court and have a strategy, we’re limited to actions taken. It makes it particularly challenging for us to maintain a constant legal strategy when we’re being told about potential executive actions,” Welch said. “We’ve got to keep everybody in the loop, and we’ve got to say promises have been made but I have no info to add. It’s a difficult spot. We have to prepare a legal strategy, if we don’t have something tangible in hand.”
Neither President Trump nor Attorney General Todd Blanche returned emails seeking comments about Adamiak’s plight or whether a pardon is likely.
ATF Director Robert Cekada said he stands by his earlier comments, which stated that Adamiak’s sentence was far longer than other similar cases.
“I think that this is a case that warrants review by the Pardon Office or the President,” Cekada said Wednesday evening.
Questionable charges
Adamiak was arrested and charged by the ATF during the height of the Biden Administration’s war on gun rights and the Second Amendment.
He had been accepted to attend BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training). Had the ATF left him alone, Adamiak would likely be leading a Navy SEAL platoon.
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.
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, but 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 inert RPGs are still legally sold today without an FFL or any other paperwork.
Bodell’s status at the ATF today is not known.
Adamiak’s prosecution is led by Brian J. Samuels, who served as the criminal chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Eastern Virginia office for nearly two decades, until he was demoted just a few months ago.
The main reason for Samuels’ demotion was never made entirely clear, but it may have involved a decision to not file charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, each of whom tried to prosecute President Trump.
Once responsible for management and major cases within the office, Samuels is now just an assistant U.S. attorney—the same title given to anyone who graduates law school and joins the Justice Department.
He recently released a document titled “Position of the United States with Respect to Sentencing Factors.”
It shows he will offer Adamiak no mercy.
Samuels never once mentioned Joe Biden or how he was responsible for the out-of-control ATF and their massive stint of illegality that occurred during his presidency. In fact, Biden is mentioned only once in the entire document, in a quote from Adamiak’s father.
Takeaways
Adamiak’s father, Dave Adamiak, does not understand why nothing official has happened to his son’s charges, yet he still is hopeful that Tate will somehow be released.
He thinks about Tate nearly every minute of every single day. It has changed his life and not in any good way.
“That’s why it’s so very difficult to focus on any task,” Dave Adamiak said. “I remember doing things with Tate constantly, and then these thoughts are interrupted by how he royally got screwed. It doesn’t seem like anyone is even paying attention. What can I possibly do to bring more attention to this complete miscarriage of justice, which no one is even doing anything about anymore?”
Tate Adamiak has been held in a dangerous Virginia county jail since June 16 and was not available for comment.
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