Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Tate Adamiak, a 28-year-old master at arms first class in the Navy, was sentenced Tuesday, June 13, 2023, to 20 years in prison for owning and selling unregistered machine guns from his Virginia home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (Western Tidewater Regional Jail, Va.)
A 28-year-old Navy master-at-arms was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for owning and selling unregistered machine guns from his Virginia home, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Tate Adamiak was convicted in October on five counts related to owning and selling illegal firearms after authorities found dozens of weapons, including antitank missile launchers and grenade launchers in his Virginia Beach home.
At the time of his crimes, Adamiak was working as part of the Navy’s law enforcement community and assigned to the USS John F. Kennedy, a yet-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier located in Newport News, Va., according to service records.
As a master at arms, he provided physical security of ships and bases.
The Navy said Thursday that Adamiak is still employed by the Navy but declined to say whether it has begun the process to discharge him.
“Due to privacy concerns, we do not comment on personnel actions,” a Navy spokesperson said.
Adamiak obtained illegal machine guns that were not registered, and he sold them online between October 2021 and April 2022, according to court records. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purchased eight machine guns from him through a confidential source.
The weapons sold to ATF investigators and the source were considered illegal because Adamiak had not registered them in compliance with the National Firearms Act, according to the court documents.
During a search of the sailor’s home, agents recovered 25 additional unregistered firearms, two grenade launchers and two antitank missile launchers.
Adamiak, who enlisted in the Navy in August 2012, was listed online Thursday as an inmate at Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, Va.
