VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy sailor in Virginia Beach was convicted of selling and possessing unregistered machine guns on Friday, according to the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Office.
A news release said that Patrick Tate Adamiak, 28, was gathering unregistered, illegal machine guns and selling them online between October 2021 and April 2022.
According to the release, Adamiak is a Master-at-Arms in the Navy.
Authorities arrested Adamiak after a months-long investigation by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Court documents say last October, federal officers got information from a confidential source that Adamiak may be trafficking guns.
With help from this source – who used the undercover name Rick Hayes - ATF investigators purchased several machinegun parts from Adamiak.
Court documents say authorities sent Adamiak more than $15,000 thousand dollars for the weapons between October 2021 and March 2022.
Documents say Adamiak sold the guns out of his home on St. Mark Road in Virginia Beach’s Pembroke Meadows neighborhood – that’s not far from Virginia Beach Town Center.
Court records say the packages containing the guns were addressed from a website called BlackDogAresenal.com.
This past April, court documents say federal agents trailed Adamiak as he left his home with several packages. Authorities stopped him, detained him, and searched his home.
Documents say: “…agents found several suspected machineguns, documents, grenade launchers…” and money inside the St. Mark Road address.
Agents also searched a second Virginia Beach home connected to Adamiak on Bow Creek Boulevard, off Rosemont Road.
There, they found 5 improvised explosive devices also known as I-E-D’s.
On Twitter, U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia Jessica Aber called it an “unbelievable arsenal.”
Adamiak faces ten years in prison, and his sentencing is scheduled for March 31, 2023.