ATF Director Robert Cekada stands by the agency’s investigation and arrest of Navy veteran Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, but in an interview with Bearing Arms, the head of the ATF questioned why Adamiak was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for allegedly offering to sell restricted weapons.
“I don’t know the case, every nook and cranny, [because] I didn’t investigate the case, but look, there are claims that Tate makes where the government doesn’t agree. Bottom line, Tate’s case went to court and Tate was convicted in court. I think that the biggest challenge is that the sentence Tate received is a sentence that I have not seen for a case like that,” Cekada said.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week turned away Adamiak’s appeal of his conviction, leaving a pardon or commutation of his sentence as the only viable way for him to be released from federal custody without having to spend fifteen more years (or even longer) in federal custody.
Cekada says its highly unusual for a defendant like Adamiak, who had no prior criminal history and was serving in the Navy when he was arrested, to receive such a lengthy sentence after a conviction on similar charges.
“I’ve seen cases where folks with no criminal history are involved, and I’m not using any of my statements towards Tate negatively, but for example I’ve personally charged people for trafficking or dealing in firearms without a license, and they were dealing firearms to gang members. No criminal history, we charged them, they went to trial, they got three years in jail, right?”
Cekada says the DOJ is looking into Adamiak’s conviction and the evidence ATF presented in court under the previous administration.
“When Tate’s getting 20 years and we have people who are committing violent crimes and they’re not even getting a fraction of prison time like that, there’s a problem,” Cekada added.
I know that many of us would prefer to see DOJ and ATF declare that Adamiak never should have been prosecuted to begin with, and I continue to hope that President Trump will grant him a full pardon after the Supreme Court’s supremely disappointing decision denying his appeal. Still, I can’t recall an active ATF official, much less the head of the agency, ever criticizing a sentence handed down for a non-violent, possessory offense as being too harsh. Cekada’s declaration that Adamiak’s punishment doesn’t fit the crime is significant, and though he made it clear that he wasn’t speaking for the DOJ in any regard, it gives me some hope that the Justice Department will concur with Cekada’s assessment when Adamiak’s re-sentencing hearing takes place in a few weeks.
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak’s conviction and sentence was just one topic in a much longer conversation I had with Cekada, and I encourage you to check out the entire interview in the video window below. I will say up front that I ran out of time long before I ran out of questions for the head of the ATF, but I’m happy to report that we’ll be continuing the conversation in the near future.
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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