A small Iowa town of 800 residents likely has no need for a police force armed with 90 machine guns to keep the peace.
That, at least, is the view of federal prosecutors, who on Wednesday announced the indictment of Adair Chief of Police Bradley Wendt on charges of making false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to obtain numerous machine guns over a four-year period on behalf of the Adair Police Department, which during Wendt's tenure has never had more than three officers.
Instead, according to prosecutors, weapons would be resold for profit through Wendt's private gun store or another store owned by a friend who also is facing charges.
According to court filings and the press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Wendt used his position as police chief to obtain 10 machine guns for the official use of the police department, but later resold at least six of those weapons for "significant profit."
In addition, Wendt obtained 13 guns for his Denison- and Anita-based gun store, BW Outfitters, under the pretense they were to be used as demonstration models for potential future purchases by the department. A further 10 weapons were obtained in the same manner for Williams Contracting, a federally licensed firearms dealer business owned by Wendt's friend Robert Williams, who is also facing charges.
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Prosecutors say Wendt sought to purchase or demonstrate approximately 90 machine guns between July 2018 and August 2022. Some of the weapons were used for public machine gun shoots, where Wendt and Williams charged customers money to be able to fire the weapons.
The indictment describes the firearms as fully automatic weapons not legally available to the public, including an M60 machine gun, a belt-fed weapon widely used by the U.S. military since the Vietnam war that was purportedly obtained for official use by the Adair Police Department.
Wendt instead had the M60 mounted on his personally owned armored Humvee.
Asked for a rotary gun, usually mounted on a helicopter; city doesn't own a helicopter
Wendt also sought repeatedly to obtain for the department a rotary M134 minigun capable of firing 50 rounds per second, usually mounted on military helicopters. The ATF denied the requested transfer.
"The Adair Police Department does not own a helicopter," the indictment notes.
At least some of the weapons purportedly obtained for the police department were bought with Wendt's personal funds, and it is not clear if city money was involved in the purchases.
Wendt is charged with 18 counts of making a false statement to the ATF and one for unlawfully possessing a machine gun. Williams is charged with three counts of false statements and with aiding and abetting. Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of at least 35 machine guns involved in the case.
"Brad Wendt is charged with exploiting his position as chief of police to unlawfully obtain and sell guns for his own personal profit," Eugene Kowel, a senior FBI agent based in Omaha, said in a statement. "The FBI is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate and hold accountable those who violate their oath of office to enrich themselves."
Wendt was put on leave by the city in September after federal agents raided his gun stores and his City Hall offices. It is not clear if he remains employed with the city, which did not return an emailed message seeking comment. A phone number listed for the city clerk could not be connected.
The case against Wendt and Williams was not listed in online court records Thursday afternoon, and it is not clear if either man has an attorney currently representing him.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa police chief charged over illegal machine gun resales
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