{"id":208180,"date":"2024-10-18T04:31:55","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T09:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=208180"},"modified":"2024-10-18T04:32:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T09:32:00","slug":"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">3<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courts sentenced a small-town sheriff from Iowa to five years of prison for attempting to sell machine guns illegally.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Adair police chief charged in machine gun scheme\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OzgiPFyN1D0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/dailymuck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Bradlet-Wendt-Indictment.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\">2022 indictment<\/a>, posted online by the Daily Muck, accused Wendt of attempting to sell 90 machine guns to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-former-sheriff-sentenced\">Former Sheriff Sentenced<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On July 1st, 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/bradley-wendt-adair-police-chief-sentenced-5-years-federal-prison-gun-charges\/61477781\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\"><em>KCCI-TV<\/em><\/a> broke the news of the sentencing. Wendt is to serve, \u201c60 months in federal prison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His charges included \u201cconspiring to make false statements to the ATF, making false statements to the ATF, and illegal possession of a machine gun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/bradley-wendt-adair-police-chief-sentenced-5-years-federal-prison-gun-charges\/61477781\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\">KCCI-TV<\/a>,<\/em> after the sentencing, \u201cWendt was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal immediately following Monday&#8217;s sentencing hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-he-did\">What He Did<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wendt used his position as sheriff to buy the guns for several small stores he owned. A press release from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdia\/pr\/adair-police-chief-sentenced-60-months-federal-prison-fraud-false-statements-and\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\">Iowa Department of Justice<\/a> explained how he could buy machine guns as sheriff.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his time as sheriff, \u201cWendt wrote nearly 40 law letters, requesting the purchase or demonstration of 90 machine guns for the Adair Police Department.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The small town of Adair has a population of about 800 people. Two deputies serve under the sheriff to uphold the law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-things-start-going-downhill\">Things Start Going Downhill <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) questioned Wendt about his dealings with the machine guns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wendt and an accomplice, 46-year-old Robert Williams owned several firearm stores. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iowa-police-chief-sentenced-guns-68f1dc231b847261dec09b83abad1c55\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\"><em>AP News<\/em><\/a>, the two sold the machine guns at these stores \u201cfor almost $80,000 personal profit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wendt and Williams then attempted to lie to the ATF, claiming that they had not sold any of the machine guns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-guilty-sheriff\">A Guilty Sheriff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdia\/pr\/adair-police-chief-sentenced-60-months-federal-prison-fraud-false-statements-and\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\">Justice Department<\/a> press release described evidence used to prove Wendt guilty. As a sheriff, he wrote \u201cnearly 40 law letters,\u201d in which he eventually requested about 90 of the guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Higher-ups denied him of some but got his hands on quite a few. According to <em>AP News<\/em>, Nicholas Klinefeldt, Wendt\u2019s defense attorney, \u201cfound the sentencing disappointing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe 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,\u201d Klinefeldt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WATCH: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/new-video-reveals-harris-radical-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\">New Video Reveals Harris\u2019 Radical Agenda<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because his crime is federally sentenced, the sheriff is not eligible for parole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"wow-small-town-sheriff-sentenced-for-selling-machine-guns\" title=\"Wow! Small Town Sheriff Sentenced for Selling Machine Guns!\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u201cfor almost $80,000 personal profit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":208181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-208180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-buzz","9":"tag-news"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Screenshot-2024-10-17-191723-150x83.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208180"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208187,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208180\/revisions\/208187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208180"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=208180"},{"taxonomy":"hunt365","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hunt365?post=208180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}