Statement of Facts

ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer Jeffrey R. Bodell — conducting his first-ever courtroom testimony — modified Tate's inert items with real ATF components to make them appear functional.

To "prove" Tate's inert RPGs were destructive devices, the ATF added five components Tate never possessed, including a complete live fire control mechanism taken from one of their own operational RPGs.

A $75 Denix toy STEN submachinegun — a Spanish non-firing replica still legally sold online — was presented at trial as a machinegun after Bodell inserted a real STEN barrel and receiver. Neither Bodell nor his assistant could make it fire more than one round.

The ATF assembled M-79 and M-203 receivers with 40mm training barrels and cartridges that were never in Tate's possession to demonstrate functionality.

ATF officer Bodell admitted under oath that Tate's two Uzi carbines were "closed-bolt semi-automatic firearms" — confirming they were legal, not machineguns. They were counted toward his sentence anyway.

Bodell conceded the PPSh-41 parts "were cut into multiple sections, that it could not chamber or fire a cartridge" without substantial welding and machining.

The ATF's own Firearm Technology Branch had previously approved the inert RPG kit for civilian sales and included a letter stating the launcher was not a destructive device.

Daniel G. O'Kelly, Senior ATF Special Agent (Ret.) and President of International Firearm Specialist Academy Inc., examined every item and concluded none qualify as firearms under federal law. He "strongly believes Adamiak should be a free man."

Len Savage, a federally licensed manufacturer and expert witness in 29 federal court cases, reviewed the charges and stated they were "not legit" and "made up by the ATF." He added: "Tate was legal, but they didn't like it."

When the prosecution learned O'Kelly would testify that the items weren't NFA-regulated, they dropped the original charges and reindicted Tate on different counts. The court then blocked O'Kelly's testimony as "irrelevant and confusing to the jury."

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Tate's sentence violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment — the same crime was counted under two different statutes to produce two consecutive 10-year sentences.

The sentencing judge counted 30 additional items toward the sentence — including the toy STEN gun, five ATF-exempt semi-automatic pistols, and the two legal Uzi carbines that the ATF's own expert confirmed were not machineguns.

The prosecution initially sought penalties for 1,012 alleged illegal NFA weapons, including 977 counts involving flat pieces of metal that could not legally qualify as firearm receivers.

The sentencing judge herself stated that Adamiak "did not possess all parts of destructive devices" — yet upheld the conviction.

Tate was an active-duty Navy E-6 who had been accepted to attend BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) at the time of his arrest.

Tate purchased the inert RPGs in California and transported them on commercial airlines, passing TSA inspection. They sat openly displayed in his home office for nearly a decade.

Some of the charged items were purchased from a licensed gun dealer with a completed ATF Form 4473 — the standard federal background check form.

According to Tate's appellate attorney Matthew Larosiere, this represents "the first time an American has been criminally charged with violating the National Firearms Act for owning non-NFA guns."