Virginia Beach sailor pardoned by Trump after weapons conviction

Emma Rose Brown, The Virginian-Pilot on Sep 10, 2026

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NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia Beach sailor was pardoned by President Donald Trump last week after spending four years in federal prison for possessing and selling unregistered weapons.

Patrick Tate Adamiak, a former Navy master at arms, was convicted in federal court and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to federal prosecutors, a confidential source with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives purchased eight machine guns from Adamiak’s online business, Black Dog Arsenal, between Oct. 2021 and April 2022. A search of Adamiak’s residences also recovered 25 additional unregistered firearms, two grenade launchers and two antitank missile launchers, prosecutors said.

Adamiak said the evidence was misrepresented. He said the items involved in his case were either nonfunctional, demilitarized or replicas.

“I spent four years in prison for items that are not firearms that were treated as firearms,” Adamiak told The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.

Adamiak said he had collected military memorabilia since childhood and registered his LLC from his Virginia home to expand his collection. He said he was legally selling unregulated parts and accessories and that he operated openly through his website and GunBroker, an online marketplace for firearms and military-related merchandise.

“We’re talking out in the open, transaction records, photos of the items paid to me in my actual personal name or the name of my business sent directly to my home address because it was a home-based business,” Adamiak said.

Federal prosecutors have maintained that the items constituted firearms and destructive devices regulated under federal law.

Adamiak appealed his convictions to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and said he ultimately succeeded in having one count dismissed on double-jeopardy grounds. The court otherwise rejected his arguments, he said.

He later asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case, with the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups supporting his petition. The Supreme Court declined to take the case.

His pardon came months later.

Adamiak said he considers the pardon more than an act of forgiveness.

“I’m considering it as an act of a correction of judicial error,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment on Adamiak’s case and pardon.

Adamiak said he is grateful for the pardon and hopes to use his experience to raise awareness. He said he believes other collectors could face similar consequences and wants safeguards put in place to prevent that.

Now home in Virginia Beach, Adamiak is also exploring a return to military service. He joined the Navy in 2012 and served for more than 11 years, including an assignment to the PCU John F. Kennedy.

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