Even ATF now admits Adamiak’s 20-year prison sentence was far too long

ATF's new director says Adamiak's 20-year prison sentence is a "big problem."

by Lee Williams

ATF Director Rob Cekada recently acknowledged that the 20-year prison sentence brought by charges his agency presented to the U.S. Department of Justice against Patrick Tate Adamiak was far longer than anything he had ever seen.

“I think that the biggest challenge is the sentence Tate received. It’s a sentence I’ve not seen for a case like that. I’ve seen cases where folks with no criminal history are involved—and I’m not saying Tate… I’m not using any of my statements toward Tate negatively, for example—I’ve personally charged people for trafficking or dealing in firearms without a license. They were dealing firearms to gang members. They had no criminal history. We charged them. They went to trial. They got three years in jail,” Cekada said during a recent interview with Cam Edwards on Bearing Arms “Cam & Co.”

Cekada did take issue with some of the technical aspects of the gun parts ATF agents recovered during a search warrant of Adamiak’s home.

“ATF folks have told me they were not properly demilled and ultimately very easily were assembled to fall into what the law would call a machinegun” Cekada said.

He understands there’s a difference of opinion between “Tate’s perspective” and the that of the ATF. Cekada promised neither he nor the ATF will be “offended by the outcome of the courts,” because he wants to make sure that Adamiak was “appropriately sentenced.” The ATF director blamed the sentencing guidelines for Adamiak’s 20-year prison sentence, “not the actual firearms.”

However, he pointed out one of the biggest issues in the case.

“When Tate’s getting 20 years and we have people who are committing violent crime and they’re not even getting a fraction of prison like that, there’s a big problem,” Cekada told Cam Edwards.

The ATF shouldn’t have to look too hard to substantiate Cekada’s concerns.

Here’s a list of cases released Friday that prove exactly what the ATF director has observed.

Oscar Solano-Salinas, 44 years old, a citizen of Mexico, with two convictions for sexual battery was sentenced to 41 months in prison for possessing a rifle and ammunition and reentering the country for a third time after having been removed on two separate occasions.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Donovan James Cartwright-Nye, 25, was sentenced on May 20, 2026, to 96 months of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing a firearm as a felon. Cartwright-Nye traded drugs for a firearm with an obliterated serial number and the following day fired several shots at another person in Rock Island, Illinois. Cartwright-Nye then fled the scene in his vehicle that he proceeded to crash several blocks away. He was apprehended on foot a short time later.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Chanse Treyvon Burge, 32, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 137 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm after a previous felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester. According to public records, on March 18, 2025, officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department responded to an armed robbery at a metro apartment. The victim reported that after a knock at the door, three individuals forced their way into the apartment. Burge held a firearm to the victim’s head while the other two searched the apartment. Burge also threatened to shoot the victim and struck her in the head multiple times with the firearm before the intruders fled. He was later arrested in a vehicle at a nearby hotel, where officers recovered a firearm.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Gabriel Lebron Mejia, 27, of Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possessing 100 grams or more of heroin intended for distribution and maintaining a drug trafficking premises. Lebron Mejia pleaded guilty to these charges on March 13, 2026. Between January and August 2025, law enforcement conducted controlled purchases of heroin and fentanyl from Lebron Mejia. During his subsequent arrest on August 28, 2025, officers searched Lebron Mejia’s vehicle and found a hidden compartment behind the vehicle’s glove box. Inside, officers recovered 115 grams of a mixture containing heroin and fentanyl and 60 grams of cocaine. Officers also searched Lebron Mejia’s apartment and recovered 100 grams of fentanyl pills, a hydraulic pill press, a gas mask, cutting agents, and other tools and drug packaging material. Police also found a 9mm handgun, ammunition, and over $21,000 in cash.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Binnie Y. Bryant Jr., 36, of Evansville, has been sentenced to 240 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On January 23, 2024, uniformed detectives approached Bryant as he walked near an intersection and attempted to stop him. Bryant immediately fled on foot and violently resisted arrest once apprehended. During the struggle, Bryant reached toward his waistband, grabbed the handle of a Glock pistol, and attempted to draw it. Detectives were able to disarm him and take him into custody without further incident. A search of Bryant’s pockets revealed 20.8 grams of heroin, 96.5 grams of THC, and two digital scales.

Adamiak was also sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Douglas Scott Reeves, who has a lengthy criminal history, including a previous federal drug conviction, will spend the next 120 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Between 2021 and 2023, law enforcement officers received information that Reeves was obtaining fentanyl tablets and fentanyl powder, which he used to manufacture his own fentanyl tablets, for distribution. Officers conducted multiple controlled buys of fentanyl from Reeves at his residence in Russellville, which were recorded. On September 27, 2023, Reeves fled when officers executed a search warrant at his residence. During a search of Reeves’ residence, officers located fentanyl, psilocybin mushrooms, and drug distribution paraphernalia. Reeves admitted he distributed at least 280 grams of fentanyl and that he had used Narcan on at least 18 people while they were overdosing.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Jafere Deshon Elliott, 23, and Korbynn Jevon Jackson, 23, both of Augusta, each pled guilty to Illegal Importation of Firearms or Ammunition and Illegal Possession of a Machinegun. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen sentenced both defendants to 48 months in prison, and each man also must pay a fine of $2,000 and serve three years of supervised release upon completion of their prison terms.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Orville Andrew Pernell, an illegal alien from Jamaica charged with murder in Saint Lucia, has been sentenced to federal prison for possession of a firearm by an alien illegally or unlawfully present in the United States. Orville Andrew Pernell, a/k/a Oneil Christopher Reid, 33, of Saint Mary, Jamaica, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson to 33 months of imprisonment. After he serves his sentence in the United States, he will be subject to removal and extradition proceedings.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

James Cargill, 45, of Vacaville, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to 180 months in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. According to court documents, on Jan. 21, 2025, police officers found Cargill to be in possession of more than a pound of methamphetamine. Cargill was arrested and released on parole. He was arrested again on May 9, 2025, after police officers found him in possession of just under a half a pound of methamphetamine and a loaded Glock 20 semi-automatic pistol.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Otha Gatlin, 48, was sentenced to over 180 months in federal prison for Selling Crack Cocaine, Possession with Intent to Sell a Quantity of Cocaine Base (Crack) and a Quantity of Cocaine, and Possession of Ammunition by a Felon. On February 9, 2026, Gatlin pleaded guilty to the charges without a plea agreement.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Muhammad Ali Hasan, 52, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on May 7, 2026, in federal court in Omaha for distribution of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a felon, and for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Hasan to 78 months’ imprisonment on the drug conviction and for possession of a firearm as a felon, each to run concurrently, and a consecutive 60 months’ imprisonment for the possession of a firearm during drug trafficking charge, for a total sentence of 138 months imprisonment.

Adamiak was sentenced to 240 months behind bars.

Takeaways

Everyone who has studied this case clearly understands that a single minute behind bars would have been far too excessive, because nothing Adamiak owned was illegal. His 20-year sentence is an abomination.

Adamiak was arrested, charged and convicted because Joe Biden’s ATF simply did not care about anyone’s guilt or innocence. Any mistake the agents made was simply overlooked, because the ATF was neck-deep in a national political fight against guns and gun owners.

Clearly, Cekada was correct about the sentences he has seen—is seeing—as a result of ATF investigations. Those who are illegally armed or who have been convicted of felony drug offenses, or resist arrest, or have long criminal records in addition to their most recent crimes, receive far less time behind bars than Adamiak received.

The data that was used for this story is released by the ATF every single week, and it clearly shows that no one with a spotless record like Adamiak’s receives a 20-year prison sentence.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the ATF itself need to take a close, serious look at exactly what happened to Patrick Tate Adamiak. Problems with the case began with a confidential informant who was facing charges himself, and were compounded by ATF’s “expert” witness who turned a toy into a machinegun, and who may have made false statements under oath about 100% legal gun parts.

It’s hard to believe that anything similar could occur under ATF’s current leadership, but Adamiak was imprisoned by the ATF, and the agency doesn’t get a do-over just because the current leadership now says they respect the Second Amendment. If they really do, Tate should be freed.

Cekada said “the biggest challenge is the sentence Tate received.”

Everyone who venerates the Second Amendment agrees, but we also believe it’s time to do something about this legal horror, because what happened to Patrick Tate Adamiak could happen to any legal gun owner.

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