Patrick "Tate" Adamiak is sitting in prison for multiple weapons charges, only for all the evidence to look like it was manufactured by an ATF agent looking to make a name for himself.
At least, that's my take on it, based on what Lee Williams has shown us through his work covering this absolute travesty.
As it was, we knew things were bad. This man, who was a respected member of the United States Navy and was set to go to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, is sitting in prison looking at a 20-year sentence, and will likely have to serve it all unless the Supreme Court intervenes, and he got screwed not just via the "evidence," but the sentence itself.
Williams, who has done amazing work on Adamiak's case, looked at 10 cases with similar charges. What he found is infuriating, to say the least.
Please note that federal sentences are based on months, not years. Adamiak is serving 240 months behind bars.
Alfredo Gonzalez-Diaz—175 months
Alfredo Gonzalez-Diaz, a 42-year-old Mexican citizen illegally residing in Houston, was charged with drug trafficking on U.S. streets and unlawfully possessing a rocket launcher, rocket-propelled grenades, guns and ammunition, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
“A rocket launcher, two rocket propelled grenades, 8.5 kilos of heroin, and lots, and lots, of cash,” said Hamdani. “These are the tools of terror of the Mexican cartels. Cartels like Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) Cartel threaten our communities and our families. This U.S. Attorney’s Office will not rest until we seize the cartel’s weapons, drugs and cash, and welcome those, like Gonzalez-Diaz, to the inside of a prison cell.”
Alfredo Gonzalez-Diaz pleaded guilty May 26, 2022, to conspiracy to distribute kilograms of heroin and cocaine and illegal possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H Bennett sentenced Gonzalez-Diaz to serve a total of 175 months in federal prison.
Timothy Lawrence Carll—120 months possible
Timothy Lawrence Carll, 67, possessed four fully automatic machine guns, including an AK-style rifle, a Thompson M1 submachine gun, a Sterling submachine gun, and a PPSh-41 submachine gun. Carll also possessed four metal tubes that he knew were designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, specifically for use as part of Sten submachine guns of various models. Carll did not have a valid Federal Firearms License or a Special Occupational Tax when he possessed these machine guns.
Carll is scheduled to be sentenced on April 19. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Carll has not yet been sentenced, but he can receive no more than 120 months.
Daniel Matthew Kittson—27 months
Daniel Matthew Kittson, 61. According to court documents, in December 2019, a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) learned that Kittson was attempting to sell a Russian PPSh-41, a machine gun capable of firing approximately 900 rounds per minute. Investigators learned that he had prior felony convictions for attempted murder, first degree manslaughter, and felon in possession of a weapon, making it illegal for him to possess any type of firearm.
In early January 2020, investigators communicated with Kittson on two separate occasions to arrange a controlled purchase of the machine gun and, on January 10, 2020, completed the transaction. Following their purchase, investigators tested the firearm and confirmed that it was indeed a functional machine gun.
On August 24, 2023, a jury found Kittson guilty of illegally transferring a machinegun.
He was sentenced to serve 27 months in a federal prison.
Literally none of the 10 got anything close to Adamiak, despite there also being charges related to drugs or, in one disturbing instance, sexually-explicit material involving a child. One even had a live RPG and two rockets for it, while Adamiak had a tube that had been demilled and was perfectly legal to own, despite testimony before the court otherwise.
None got anything close to Adamiak's sentence, and while Williams acknowledges that there are problems with comparing one case to another, the fact is that you're looking at people who didn't exactly have clean criminal records and were all caught doing far worse than just having guns they weren't supposed to have. I mean, the child porn alone should have been worth more than 240 months, but when coupled with weapons charges, the guy still got less time than Adamiak.
There's nothing about this case that's right. Nothing at all.
Luckily, there's still hope.
Earlier today, Adamiak's attorney Mark Pennak told me that he filed for cert with the Supreme Court on April 10th. That means the Supreme Court has a chance to make this right. There's nothing about this that's just, from the evidence allowed to the evidence disallowed, to even the sentencing.
It could have been any of us, but it was Tate Adamiak.
Now, a young man is seeing his dreams of defending our country as a Navy SEAL being flushed down the drain, all so the ATF can look like it's actually doing something.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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