A Navy sailor is facing 50 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him Friday of possessing and selling unregistered machine guns, the Justice Department said Monday.
Patrick Tate Adamiak, 28, was indicted this year in Virginia in an undercover investigation targeting illicit weapons sales. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) bought eight machine guns from him using a confidential source, the agency said.
ATF agents later executed a search warrant at Adamiak’s home in Virginia Beach and recovered 25 unregistered machine guns. He also was in possession of two grenade launchers and two anti-tank missile launchers, prosecutors said.