9 mo. ago • 99%

Jury convicts Iowa police chief of lying to feds to acquire machine guns

apnews.com Jury convicts Iowa police chief of lying to feds to acquire machine guns

A federal jury has convicted a small-town Iowa police chief of lying to federal authorities to acquire machine guns. Prosecutors say he sold the guns for his own profit.

The jury convicted Adair Police Chief Brad Wendt, 47, of conspiring to make false statements to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, making false statements to the agency, and illegal possession of a machine gun. He was convicted on 11 of 15 charges.

Wendt was indicted in December 2022, accused of lying to the bureau in official letters asking to buy the machine guns or to see them demonstrated.

Authorities say he bought machine guns for the police department, then sold them for an almost $80,000 personal profit. Trial evidence showed he bought machine guns for his gun store, including a .50-caliber machine gun he mounted to his own armored Humvee, using the letters, federal prosecutors said.

20 comments

Real talk though, who hasn’t lied to the FBI to get .50 caliber guns to mount on top of their personal armored hummer? Right?

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- I do it annually, they really spruce the garage up!
  
  28
  
  Mount them in the upstairs windows, really adds to the decor.
  
  17
- How else are you supposed to get through that traffic when the super bowl parade ends?
  
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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Oh hey they got a promotion.

25
- Like right after 9/11...
  
  4
  
  Oh. How humble of them, not to brag. Really shows character.
  
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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"

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- Somebody could make a show out of that question. Call it "COP COPS" and have a camera crew follow the feds in to bust the crooked or dipshittery-inclined types.
  
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  I would literally cum to every episode.
  
  Literally.
  
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Yeah just pure profiteering, selling receivers with legal MG serial numbers.

It’s the same BS in California. Handgun roster requires manufacturers complete ‘safety testing’ in order to certify their models approved for sale. Manufacturers largely don’t comply. Naturally, law enforcement is exempt from the same purchasing requirements.

Cops get Gen 5 Glocks while normal folks can purchase Gen 3 models. Then sell them privately to flip for profit.

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I'm waiting with baited breath for the results of a machine gun sale trial my fox news contributor sheriff will have. https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/courts/judge-sets-trial-dates-for-sheriff-jenkins-krop-on-machine-gun-conspiracy-charges/article_aba7e2f3-073f-5758-be9c-1119a3f9f40f.html

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- I still don't know how he keeps winning even as the county gets bluer and bluer
  
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FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said in a statement Thursday. “When so many law enforcement officers in our country are working to protect our communities and uphold the law, Brad Wendt did exactly the opposite.”

No, Eugene, you got it wrong. Here's what you should have said.

"When so many law enforcement officers in our country are working toward their own ends, and ignoring the law, Brad Wendt did exactly the same."

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