{"id":118595,"date":"2026-09-05T12:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=118595"},"modified":"2026-09-05T12:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T17:40:23","slug":"118595","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=118595","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/p\/breaking-tate-adamiak-pardoned\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BREAKING: TATE ADAMIAK PARDONED<\/a><br \/>\nPresident Trump pardoned Patrick \u201cTate\u201d Adamiak and several others Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Former U.S. Navy sailor Patrick \u201cTate\u201d Adamiak has been pardoned by President Donald J. Trump\u2014effective immediately. He was one of several people pardoned by President Trump Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Adamiak, who still had 16 years left to serve of his 20-year federal prison sentence, will soon be a free man.<\/p>\n<p>Adamiak said he was \u201cnumb headed\u201d after he was released. He was dreaming of eating a burrito.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pullquote\">\n<p>\u201cI am ecstatic. I can\u2019t believe it. It\u2019s been four years in the making. It feels great. I am grateful that so many people stood behind me and made it happen,\u201d Adamiak said. \u201cI am grateful to President Trump. He gave me a full pardon. It\u2019s all a lot to take in. I might even be able to get back into the military if I choose to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He has said he plans to continue his legal fight against the government since he never committed a single crime, and with his felony convictions completely overturned he can now fight as a free man.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/saf.org\/\">Second Amendment Foundation<\/a>\u2019s Investigative Journalism Project\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/p\/a-current-list-of-our-50-stories\">published more than 60 stories<\/a>\u00a0debunking Adamiak\u2019s arrest, conviction and lengthy prison sentence.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe are thrilled that he is free. He did nothing wrong and broke no law,\u201d said SAF founder and executive vice president Alan M. Gottlieb. \u201cIt took a humanitarian like President Trump to rectify a government wrong.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Adamiak\u2019s defense attorney Calum Welch was thrilled Friday.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI am very excited for Tate and couldn\u2019t be prouder to have played a small role in his getting home where he deserves to be,\u201d Welch said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 1456w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sizing-normal\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7ydq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg 1456w\" alt=\"\" width=\"443\" height=\"733.2623626373627\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2410,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:443,&quot;bytes&quot;:218318,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/i\/214203799?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46478f03-86b0-4009-8dc3-bcd81fd626b8_1683x2786.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" \/><\/picture>\n<div class=\"image-link-expand\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"captioned-image-container\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"image2-inset\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 1456w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sizing-normal\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg\" sizes=\"100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 424w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 848w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 1272w, https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!ddj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg 1456w\" alt=\"\" width=\"443\" height=\"733.2623626373627\" data-attrs=\"{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:2410,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:443,&quot;bytes&quot;:126182,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image\/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/i\/214203799?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F851e3f4e-8966-46d8-812d-0b23f1ac6145_1683x2786.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}\" \/><\/picture>\n<div class=\"image-link-expand\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h4 class=\"header-anchor-post\"><strong>Flawed investigation<\/strong><\/h4>\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-position-absolute pc-reset header-anchor-parent\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-contents pc-reset pubTheme-yiXxQA\">\n<div id=\"\u00a7flawed-investigation\" class=\"pencraft pc-reset header-anchor offset-top\"><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"pencraft pc-reset pencraft iconButton-mq_Et5 iconButtonBase-dJGHgN buttonBase-GK1x3M buttonStyle-r7yGCK size_sm-G3LciD priority_secondary-S63h9o\" tabindex=\"0\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/i\/214203799\/flawed-investigation\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Adamiak never sold a single real firearm\u2014not one\u2014even though he sold thousands of dollars per month of military gear and gun parts legally on his former website.<\/p>\n<p>He was one of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunbroker.com\/\">Gun Broker<\/a>\u2019s top 500 dealers, until the ATF decided to target him personally and lie under oath about the facts of his case.<\/p>\n<p>Adamiak enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 and eventually became an E-6 Master-at-Arms. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree and was working on a master\u2019s until his arrest. He was on track for an officer\u2019s commission within Naval Special Warfare.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The confidential informant, or CI, that brought Adamiak\u2019s freedom to an end was cooperating with the ATF to work off charges of his own.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While dropping off gear at Adamiak\u2019s home, the CI saw a replica grenade launcher and belt-fed machinegun replicas. He asked Adamiak if he had an SOT (Class 3 FFL). Adamiak told the CI the items were replicas\u2014toys incapable of firing live rounds.<\/p>\n<p>From this point forward, Adamiak said he became the target of a \u201cfishing expedition by the ATF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adamiak did agree to broker the purchase of a PPSh-41-barrel shroud for a client, which does not qualify as a firearm.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt was literally purchased in open commerce, with a business check, from a confirmed FFL as an unregulated part directly off of Gun Broker,\u201d Adamiak said last year. \u201cEvidently, the ATF must have realized this was the closest thing they could get from me to a firearm, but what they really wanted was to get in my house to see the Mark 19 and the M240 replicas that their CI was boasting about. When applying for their search warrant the ATF told the judge in a criminal complaint that at issue was the PPSh-41-barrel shroud that they said was a machinegun, but that was not even close, legally.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4 class=\"header-anchor-post\"><strong>Show trial<\/strong><\/h4>\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-flex pc-alignItems-center pc-position-absolute pc-reset header-anchor-parent\">\n<div class=\"pencraft pc-display-contents pc-reset pubTheme-yiXxQA\">\n<div id=\"\u00a7show-trial\" class=\"pencraft pc-reset header-anchor offset-top\"><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"pencraft pc-reset pencraft iconButton-mq_Et5 iconButtonBase-dJGHgN buttonBase-GK1x3M buttonStyle-r7yGCK size_sm-G3LciD priority_secondary-S63h9o\" tabindex=\"0\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/thegunwriter.substack.com\/i\/214203799\/show-trial\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>More than 40 federal agents and police officers raided Adamiak\u2019s home and a rental property he owned. Agents came from the ATF, FBI, HIS, NCIS, SWAT, Bomb Squad and local police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey turned my house upside-down but did not find a single functional machinegun or destructive device,\u201d Adamiak said last year.<\/p>\n<p>The agents seized about 35 replica firearms and parts from Adamiak\u2019s personal collection and labeled them \u201csuspected machineguns and destructive devices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most worrisome, the agents seized money and silver Adamiak collected as \u201cproceeds of illegal activity,\u201d including his antique currency collection, which was worth thousands of dollars. Eventually, hiring an attorney was difficult for Adamiak because law enforcement took all of his savings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s my opinion and that of my family\u2019s that the ATF realized they had messed up after they didn\u2019t find a single illegal weapon,\u201d Adamiak said from prison last year. \u201cSo, they completely reinterpreted the statutes and implemented a new rule to spin the jury and get me convicted. They manufactured crime to convict me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ATF\u2019s first indictment charged Adamiak with possessing 33 machineguns. There were no destructive devices mentioned. To counter, Adamiak and his attorneys hired former ATF senior official Dan O\u2019Kelly as a defense witness.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Kelly joined the ATF as a Special Agent in 1988 after serving 10 years as a sworn police officer. He became a legend within the agency, including a stint as the lead instructor of Firearm Technology on staff at the ATF National Academy. O\u2019Kelly has taught internationally and co-wrote the program establishing the Certified Firearm Specialist for the ATF, while he was at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutors knew that O\u2019Kelly would make mincemeat of their charges, so they reindicted Adamiak, charging him with possession of one machinegun and four destructive devices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey knew we\u2019d make them look like fools at trial with Dan\u2019s testimony, so the AUSA filed motions to block his expert testimony saying, \u2018Any testimony about the definition of a frame or receiver of a machinegun would be both irrelevant and confusing to the jury.\u2019\u201d Adamiak explained last year.<\/p>\n<p>His trial became \u201cliterally theatrical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe AUSA absolutely twisted every fact, cherry-picked messages to completely change the whole narrative, and blatantly lied about everything to make me look bad,\u201d Adamiak has said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1. She claimed the down payment for Adamiak\u2019s house were profits of illegal gun trafficking. Adamiak bought his house a year before he started his hobby business using his Navy pay.<\/li>\n<li>2. She claimed Gun broker was the dark web.<\/li>\n<li>3. She used his military training against him.<\/li>\n<li>4. She claimed he stole parts from the military, despite the fact that he had detailed records for every single part.<\/li>\n<li>5. She claimed his honest business strategy of buying low and selling for profit was \u201cgreed.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>6. She attempted to make Adamiak look like a neo-Nazi because he had his grandfather\u2019s WWII war trophies stored in his safe, some of which had German markings on them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Throughout the trial, the ATF\u2019s attorneys showed jurors pictures of Adamiak\u2019s extensive personal collection, including random parts, barrel shrouds and MAC-10 flats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey told the jury these were all machineguns,\u201d Adamiak said in a previous interview. \u201cThe worst was the M240. They displayed a photo of the ATF case agent holding the belt-fed M240 replica and testified that it was a machinegun, and also made filings saying the same thing, despite the fact that the ATF\u2019s own report says it\u2019s a replica and not a firearm at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rather than winning the trial as his attorneys had claimed they would do, Adamiak was found guilty and sentenced to 20-years imprisonment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BREAKING: TATE ADAMIAK PARDONED President Trump pardoned Patrick \u201cTate\u201d Adamiak and several others Friday. Former U.S. Navy sailor Patrick \u201cTate\u201d Adamiak has been pardoned by President Donald J. Trump\u2014effective immediately. He was one of several people pardoned by President Trump Friday. Adamiak, who still had 16 years left to serve of his 20-year federal prison &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=118595\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bureaucraps","category-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118596,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118595\/revisions\/118596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}