Judge unknowingly admits Patrick ‘Tate’ Adamiak’s inert RPGs were legal

Adamiak still has 17 years left in prison, most of which is for his inert RPGs.

Judge Arenda Wright Allen, 63, is a district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, who presided over Adamiak’s trial.

by Lee Williams

Were it not for the additional charges and prison time he received for possessing two inert rocket launchers, Patrick “Tate” Adamiak would likely be a free man.

“More than likely, I would have received no more than six years if it weren’t for the RPGs,” Adamiak said Sunday from his federal prison in New Jersey. “The guidelines say I would have received a 70-month sentence range, had I not been convicted of the RPGs.”

His sentencing guidelines included a 15-point enhancement for the two inert RPGs, but if they weren’t charged, Adamiak would likely have received a five-year sentence, as opposed to the 20-year sentence he is currently serving.

“I would be home now,” Adamiak said.

ATF and prosecutors worked hand-in-hand to convince a jury that the legal guns and gun parts found in his home during a search warrant were in violation of federal law, especially the RPGs.

Adamiak had bought them years ago in California when he was 19. They were marked “INERT” and “TRAINING AID DUMMY” and were incapable of firing anything because they were missing most of their internal parts, all of the critical fire-control components. Additionally, they each had a large hole bored in the high-pressure area, which if a real rocket was fired, would remove the shooter’s head.

Adamiak’s RPGs were marked “INERT” and “TRAINING AID DUMMY.” (Photo courtesy of Adamiak).

After his arrest, the ATF reworked his fake RPGs until they were capable of firing a single 7.62x39mm rifle round. In other words, the ATF turned his inert RPGs into live illegal weapons, which they claimed were “destructive devices.”

But now, some newly discovered evidence from the judge herself tears apart the ATF’s story about the rocket launchers.

Federal District Judge Arenda Wright Allen oversaw Adamiak’s trial. Afterward, she wrote an eight-page document called a “Statement of Reason,” or SOR. The document includes the judge’s reasoning behind Adamiak’s two-decade sentence, since she could have sentenced him to even more time behind bars.

“Mitigating factor: Performed well on bond, did not possess all parts of destructive devices. Showed remorse during allocution,” Judge Wright Allen wrote in her SOR.

For those fluent in federal firearm law, the judge’s comment “did not possess all parts of destructive devices” is simply unbelievable. It damns the prosecution, their ATF “expert” and the judge herself.

To actually charge a defendant with possessing a destructive device, all of the necessary firearm components must be possessed. If they’re not, prosecutors cannot charge anyone with possessing a destructive device. Adamiak’s RPGs lacked almost all of their internal parts. The ATF had to install their own internal parts to make the two tubes capable of firing a single rifle round.

This federal law is very clear. The defendant needs to possess all the RPG parts “from which a destructive device may be readily assembled.” Adamiak didn’t have the real parts, which the ATF needed to get his fake rocket launchers to fire a rifle round.

“I should never have been charged with the RPGs,” Adamiak said. “I did not have all the parts. I did not have the parts in my possession to make them physically function even if I wanted to. They were literally tubes with no fire controls.”

Clearly, the DOJ and the ATF went to unheard of lengths to put Adamiak behind bars.

“I think it was politically motivated prosecutors trying to further their careers with a ‘big bust.’ It was also the ATF trying to bring something to the table, to make it appear like they’re actually doing something,” Adamiak said. “They manufactured the crime. They built my case off of nothing. They manipulated evidence by adding parts—something I didn’t have. The judge maliciously shut me up. They took the ATF at their word, and that was Bodell.”

ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer Jeffrey Bodell, who even turned Adamiak’s toy STEN into a machinegun, was the prosecution’s main witness for the RPGs. It was the first time Bodell had ever testified in court.

Bodell took the inert rocket launchers to the ATF’s lab and added missing fire-control components including a firing pin from a functional RPG from the ATF’s collection. He also added a sub-caliber training device, which can fire 7.62x39mm rounds on its own without even loading it into an RPG.

“He fired a 7.62x39mm rifle cartridge through it utilizing the sub-caliber training device, which is a standalone rifle that can be fired independently on its own,” Adamiak said.

Bodell falsely testified that the missing parts didn’t matter, legally.

Fake RPGs for sale

If the ATF actually believes Bodell’s testimony, especially about the RPGs, they had better get busy. The internet is full of fake rocket launchers, most of which are more realistic than Adamiak’s. Most of the deals don’t require any paperwork, since like Adamiak’s, they are nothing more than fancy tubes.

Atlantic Firearms is sold out of their RPGs, but more are coming.

Inert Products, LLC offers an RPG replica for around $1,400.

The site ebay has several RPG options as well as “green, fake, cosplay rockets.”

GunBroker.com offers several legal fake rocket launchers. None require an FFL to purchase.

Russian RPG-2 with a hardcase.

Carl Gustav M2 recoilless rifle resin replica.

Inert M72 LAW Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher Tube

AT4 Rocket launcher replica

The airsoft store Tact Gearz offers an RPG-7 with real wood.

Red Wolf Airsoft offers a fake SOCOM M3 MAAWS.

Security Pro USA sells a dummy RPG-7 that looks very real.

Evike.com sells a fake RPG-7 with a dummy warhead.

Takeaways

Will the ATF go after these RPG sellers like they did Adamiak? It’s extremely doubtful. They only went after Adamiak’s launchers because they had no real charges, so they had to manufacture fake crimes.

Adamiak displayed his launchers openly in his home for nearly a decade. His friends posed for pictures with them. He never once considered them to be illegal.

His former trial attorneys actually said they were happy he was charged with the fake RPGs because it was such a ridiculous claim that it would damage the ATF's credibility and no reasonable jury would convict him for the “toys.” However, they had no idea how far the ATF would go to cover up the fact they found nothing illegal when they searched his home.

It is doubtful the judge will ever fix or even admit her legal mistake, which was massive. Adamiak’s RPGs could not fire because he did not have all the parts. Legally, the charges should have never been filed.

Adamiak and his attorney are working on an appeal, but he still hopes to receive a presidential pardon, since he did nothing wrong. Once freed, he plans to reenlist in the Navy.

Said Adamiak: “I don’t know why the judge maliciously shut me up during the trial and took the ATF at their word. If she hadn’t, by now, more than likely, I would be home.”

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