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Courts sentenced a small-town sheriff from Iowa to five years of prison for attempting to sell machine guns illegally.
The sheriff began the trials nearly two years ago when an indictment announced his charges. The man, 47-year-old Bradley Eugene Wendt, has been sheriff since 2018.
The 2022 indictment, posted online by the Daily Muck, accused Wendt of attempting to sell 90 machine guns to the public.
In February 2024, a jury convicted the fallen sheriff of his charges. The jury expected that he would serve five years of prison time. This would not be certain though, until the sentencing.
Former Sheriff Sentenced
On July 1st, 2024, KCCI-TV broke the news of the sentencing. Wendt is to serve, “60 months in federal prison.”
His charges included “conspiring to make false statements to the ATF, making false statements to the ATF, and illegal possession of a machine gun.”
According to KCCI-TV, after the sentencing, “Wendt was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal immediately following Monday’s sentencing hearing.”
What He Did
Wendt used his position as sheriff to buy the guns for several small stores he owned. A press release from the Iowa Department of Justice explained how he could buy machine guns as sheriff.
During his time as sheriff, “Wendt wrote nearly 40 law letters, requesting the purchase or demonstration of 90 machine guns for the Adair Police Department.”
The small town of Adair has a population of about 800 people. Two deputies serve under the sheriff to uphold the law.
Things Start Going Downhill
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) questioned Wendt about his dealings with the machine guns.
Wendt and an accomplice, 46-year-old Robert Williams owned several firearm stores. According to AP News, the two sold the machine guns at these stores “for almost $80,000 personal profit.”
It is illegal to sell guns acquired by the Police Department to the public. Newly-made machine guns are also not available to the general public under laws governing fully-automatic firearms.
Wendt and Williams then attempted to lie to the ATF, claiming that they had not sold any of the machine guns.
A Guilty Sheriff
The Justice Department press release described evidence used to prove Wendt guilty. As a sheriff, he wrote “nearly 40 law letters,” in which he eventually requested about 90 of the guns.
Higher-ups denied him of some but got his hands on quite a few. According to AP News, Nicholas Klinefeldt, Wendt’s defense attorney, “found the sentencing disappointing.”
“The government was allowed to convict Mr. Wendt based on an interpretation of the law that has never before been applied by any court, and that we believe was incorrect,” Klinefeldt said.
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After serving his ordered five years in prison, Wendt will not be finished with his recompense. He also has to pay a $50,000 fine and spend three years on probation.
Because his crime is federally sentenced, the sheriff is not eligible for parole.
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Having this article followed by the link to the machine gun ban being found unconstitutional seems a bit contrary, and the whole thing is telling. The real story in this is likely that the corrupt feds wanted something to hang their agenda on and found a patsy(or an asset). Hopefully the new admin can at least clear out the atf, though just disbanding it would be best imo. –It’s a pipe dream though in the current climate and i’m not holding my breath or anything that could be used against me by the gestapo.
I always thought any machinegun made after the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection act went into effect was banned from civilian ownership or possession. That’s why machine guns registered before that law went up in value. Any legal transfer of a machine gun does create a paper trail. If he got dealer sample machine guns how the heck can he lawfully sell them under todays law. Secondly the buyer will be lacking paper in the form of a tax stamp. I’m not in favor of this law, however I’m also against stupidity. It’s kind of like borrowing a book from the library and selling that book to someone else, then having the library ask you about the whereabouts of the book.
Judge Scalia spoke and wrote how the US Constitution is not what distinguishes the US federalism from other nations. As Scalia points out many oppressives states have impressive written constitutions. The key to US freedom is in the essential seperation of powers in the federal system.
I cannot do justice to how Scalia made those points but I would like to point out that one of the enemies of a power grabbing federal government is the elimination of a core threat, the Sheriff departments. I suspect that the case against Wendt is more a targetting of a Sheriff’s department and less serving a public interest. This will continue as left wing tyrants will try to eliniminate all Shefiff’s departments at every opportunity and extend an oppressive federal government. You should note how Illinois governor JB Pritzker resents the Sheriff departments that refused to support enforcing the un-Constitutional PICA.
The public should be allowed to buy and sell machine guns. No FFL required. We need to get the FFL laws repealed.
“It is illegal to sell guns acquired by the Police Department to the public.” That quote in above article is incorrect. Hundreds if not thousands of LE Dept sell both used Dept firearms AND firearms that were held as evidence (but no longer required for legal cases) also firearms that were turned for various reasons such as “found along road”. States, counties and other local jurisdictions may have firearm Auctioned off in Lots ( often boudgt buy Dealers, rather than “selling” to individuals BUT those fireams do end up back in circulation when sold by the Dealers.
It is only in the extreme anti-gun States are there strict restrictions not to sell those firearms and mandating the destruction of them. One smart company gets paid to destroy these firearms: then they strip all recoverable parts from the “serialized reciever”. Destroy the receiver and sell the used parts which then help broken firearms to be operational.
I bought a complete Colt Trooper III from a PD that was carried by LEO’s years ago, probably replaced with Glocks. I believe that lots of evidence guns are broken down and sold on-line as parts that do not now require FFL as you point out.
The case is vague, ‘His charges included “conspiring to make false statements to the ATF, making false statements to the ATF, and illegal possession of a machine gun.”’ That’s the best charges against the “fallen sheriff”? Why were the “machine guns” considered illegal by the ATF? Who were the “machine guns” sold too? How were the machine guns obtained by the former Sheriff if the sales were not legal?
Never discuss a legal issue with a fed, the feds lied and burned General Michael Flynn and will lie and burn anyone they can excepot connected criminals like Hunter Biden.
He acquired them with taxpayers $$ to sell at his stores for a profit. I am not sure what got your panties in a bunch
What an f’ed up comment.
If that was the case then he should have been charged with misappropriation of public funds and if he violated the NFA (bad case law US v. Miller) then make that case. Don’t like that NFA charge but I can at least understand where that legal theory comes from. Instead, the ATF reach into the playbook where public interest is hard to measure and charge the Sheriff “making false statements.” Besides you Merrick Garland, the DOJ and the usual bootlickers who gives a flip that someone might have made a false statement to bureau of liars that piss away “taxpayer $$” and break the Supreme Law of the Land regularly. And then who bought the 2 firearms for $80,000? The ATF to sell in Mexico?
Yep. My Beretta 96 is a turn in retiree and has a LE badge engraved on the slide.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. And if you want to be a sheriff, the first rule is to know all federal state and and local laws regarding purchase and sales of firearms of every type. His punishment was appropriate. I am curious if the people he sold the weapons to have been charged as well.
My guess, and after reading the DOJ press release you still have to guess, is that there was no $80,000 that exchanged hands. The Sheriff and his brother in theory transferred the guns from the small town ownership to the gun stores owned by Bradley Eugene Wendt and his brother. Therefore the ATF is saying that they both enjoyed an $80,000 profit while lying to the protectors of truth justice and the American way of life, the AFT and the DOJ.
Years ago, I was at an outdoor range with some LEO’s who brought full auto FN FAL’s that their chief had purchased. The rifles were government surplus, as I recall from South America. They let me shoot the rifles, on full auto the pivot pins had a tendency to cause the upper and lower receiver to disengage. The rifles were worn out and really not that much fun. My guess is that Wendt and his brother were just doing something similiar but the DOJ under Garland has made this all a crime.
Plenty of people doing crimes but NOT the time and often laws are vague and often people are easily mislead. Some people like Barry Soetoro seal the books on their crimes.
Stupid man
Why are there not 90 co-conspirators being prosecuted as well? Something about the lack of detail and context seems befuddling.
Too bad you were NOT on the jury to ask that question, could be that Merrick Garland, the DOJ and the ATF are running a shell game on the American public once again. Really “$80,000” and no other details?
Why is this even a crime? Sure, he conspired to obtain and profit from the sale of machine guns but is that a crime? It may be a federal statute but any federal statute in violation of the Constitution is null and void.
Seriously? He illegally acquired machine guns with taxpayers money and sold for personal gain. Obviously illegal…
I wonder if this guy is buddies w/ Clark Co., Indiana ex-sheriff Jamie Noel? Maybe they can share a cell.
Perhaps an LEO out there could tell me why automatic weapons
are needed in that occupation ( aside from idiots with “ Glock switches “ ) .
Call me backwards , know nothing , etc. but I am a firm believer in
the old saying , “ may all your enemies be on full auto .”
It is quite easy to take care of business at 300 yards with my M1A and
proper training than to maneuver under suppressing fire . I am not being
flippant , impertinent or any other adjective one wishes to use , I am merely
at a loss in understanding .
Thanks for any input that may be submitted .
And , no , I do not have nor want a “ tax stamp “ .
Try clearing a room full of gangbanging thugs armed with converted Glocks with your hoity Springfield M1A instead of an MP-5, and report back to us how it turned out.
Thanks for the input . Was not aware you had so much
experience in such matters . I sought clarification from
someone in the know , and I certainly got it . You’ve
been more than helpful . I am obliged for your time .
Cops usually have full-automatic firearms because they can, and we can’t.
I can’t see much reason for, and a lot of liability from discharging rapid fire streams of bullets in public.
A few lucky departments still have the old Tommy Guns their predecessors bought, just in case John Dillinger or the Barrow Gang showed up in town. A fun range toy they can play with once a year, and let journalists and friends touch off a few rounds.
Hey let’s see if we can find out how many of those full-auto firearms have been recovered. And if any of those illegal buyers will be changed.
There are two types of cops.
Those who’ve been caught.
And those who haven’t.
I won’t go quite that far but he was obviously bad at both being a gun store owner and sheriff since law letter machine guns are only transferable to law enforcement and sot/ffl’s