Former Iowa Police Chief Who Lied To ATF About Machine Guns Sent To Prison

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 4 minutes read

A former police chief in a small Iowa town will go to prison for five years after being convicted of lying to federal officials in order to stockpile machine guns.

Bradley Wendt, who led the three-man Adair Police Department, also owned a gun store and was licensed to buy and sell machine guns. He was indicted in 2022 for lying to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on forms required to obtain approval for such transactions, falsely claiming the guns would be sold for use by or as demonstrations for the police department.

In fact, prosecutors say, he sought to obtain or transfer dozens of machine guns, including a rotary machine gun typically mounted on military helicopters — far more weapons than his small department could possibly need or use. In all, Wendt received 10 weapons for the department, some of which he resold for a profit, and 13 more for his own store, as well as signed letters to help other gun dealers around the country get approval to purchase machine guns.

At his trial in February, Wendt said he consulted with ATF officials in advance and believed all of his transactions were legal. But prosecutors said many of the transactions in question clearly did not benefit the police department. They showed text messages and emails in which Wendt bragged to friends about using his position as chief to acquire guns, and said he wanted to get as many as he could before he retired and then sell them for a profit.

Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence

Wendt was convicted of 11 counts, including making false statements and conspiracy, and acquitted of several other counts. The jury also found that he illegally possessed a machine gun when he took a department-owned M60 heavy machine gun to a shooting event hosted by his gun store more than 50 miles from Adair.

At his sentencing Monday, prosecutor Mikaela Shotwell said Wendt's conduct was “not a mistake, nor an honest misunderstanding” of the law.

She also highlighted Wendt's behavior throughout the proceedings, including derogatory posts on his company's Facebook page against federal investigators and his continued efforts to obtain restricted firearms until the week before his trial.

Defense attorney says probation is enough to deter

Defense attorney Nick Klinefeldt said that unlike other cases where officials obtained firearms illegally, Wendt obtained proper authorization for each transfer and that all the guns involved were recovered where they were supposed to be. He also pointed to Wendt's long career in law enforcement and running several businesses, his family ties, including three young children, and numerous letters of support from Adair officials and other police officers.

“He's lost his job, he's lost his law enforcement career, he's going to lose his business, he's going to lose the ability to pursue his passion for hunting… there's a significant financial loss. He's losing everything,” Klinefeldt said.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for a prison term of between 78 and 97 months for Wendt. Shotwell asked Judge Stephen Locher to sentence him in that range at 84 months, or seven years, while Klinefeldt urged the court to sentence him to probation.

“It's important to set an example,” judge says of prison sentence

Locher instead sentenced Wendt to 60 months in prison and ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine, saying Wendt's actions represented “a breach of trust” and that whether or not Wendt filed the proper paperwork for his purchases, he had clearly sought to deceive federal regulators.

“You seem to think that if you say a few magic words to the ATF, then whatever you do is acceptable, even if some of the things you say are not true,” Locher told Wendt before sentencing him. “It’s important to set an example and show that you can’t just say whatever you want to a government agency.”

Locher explained that the fine range was lower than that set by the directive because it penalized Wendt for the more than 25 weapons involved in his trafficking. In most cases of arms trafficking, the directive anticipates that those weapons will be used to commit other crimes, he explained.

“I have no evidence that you ever threatened or brandished any weapon,” Locher said, calling Wendt an “enthusiast” who went too far in building his collection.

Case signifies change for ATF and gun industry, lawyers say

Locher also criticized the ATF's actions, noting that the agency continued to approve dozens of transfers at Wendt's request for three years, only to later decide the transfers were improper. Shotwell told the court that the agency had no procedures at the time to vet suspicious repeat transfer requests.

“This case showed the ATF that the letter of law process was being abused, and they updated their procedures and have now strengthened the checks,” she said.

Klinefeldt, in asking for a probation sentence, also highlighted what he called the major deterrent impact the case has already had on other gun traffickers.

“The impact of this on the industry is enormous,” he said. “Nobody wants to be in Brad Wendt’s current situation.”

Klinefeldt suggested that Wendt plans to appeal a number of issues, including whether he was allowed to use the city's machine gun for his gun store event and whether his statements to the ATF were materially false under the law.

William Morris covers legal affairs for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at [email protected] or 715-573-8166.

Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence

Defense attorney says probation is enough to deter

“It's important to set an example,” judge says of prison sentence

Case signifies change for ATF and gun industry, lawyers say

Lina Portman

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