Exhibits in the criminal trial of former Adair Police Chief Bradley Wendt suggest he knowingly used his position as chief to sell machine guns through his for-profit business. (Gun photo and Facebook text messages from U,S. District Court files)
Text messages and emails from a fired Iowa police chief, recently convicted of illegally dealing in automatic weapons, indicate he knowingly used his position in law enforcement to acquire machine guns for himself and his for-profit business.
“This chief (of) police gig is awesome,” Bradley Wendt wrote to an associate in 2019, according to court exhibits. “Send machine guns to my own gun store. LOL.”
In February, a federal jury convicted Wendt, 47, of conspiring to make false statements to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, eight counts of making such false statements himself, and illegal possession of a machine gun.
Beginning in 2017, Wendt served as the chief of police in Adair while also working as the owner of BW Outfitters, a federally licensed firearms dealer with locations in Anita and Denison. Prosecutors allege that between July 2018 and August 2022, Wendt used his position as Adair’s chief of police to obtain machine guns for his own personal use and profit, acquiring weapons for concocted law enforcement purposes and then selling them to others through his private company.
Wendt was also accused of selling guns to the Adair Police Department at a profit and of renting out city-owned guns for his personal profit.
Generally, machine guns made after May 1986 are illegal to transfer and possess – but an exemption exists for law enforcement agencies, which can buy machine guns for their official use. Dealers can also acquire machine guns to demonstrate to a police department for the department’s potential purchase.
If a police department wants to purchase, or receive a demonstration of, a machine gun, it must submit a letter to the ATF, referred to as a “law letter,” expressing its need for and interest in the machine gun.
Between July 2018 and August 2022, Wendt wrote nearly 40 such law letters, requesting the purchase or demonstration of 90 machine guns for the Adair Police Department, which had a total staff of two full-time officers, Wendt included.
In the law letters to purchase machine guns for his two-man department, Wendt claimed to be buying the machine guns for the official use of his department and asserted he was not acquiring them for resale.
Wendt: ‘I’m building a machine gun arsenal’
At trial, prosecutors said the evidence showed Wendt purchased an M134 motor-driven Gatling gun — capable of firing 50 rounds per second and typically used on military helicopters — that he mounted to his personally owned, armored Humvee.
In his initial efforts to facilitate that sale, Wendt allegedly wrote a letter, as chief of police, to himself as the owner of BW Outfitters, claiming the Adair Police Department was considering purchasing the weapon due to its ability to lay down “suppressive fire.”
In another instance, prosecutors alleged, Wendt purchased three machine guns for $2,000 each, then sold two of them to a Florida buyer for a total of $50,000. Those guns had been registered to the Adair Police Department.
Wendt now faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count, five years in prison for each of the eight false-statement charges, and up to 10 years’ prison for illegal possession of a machine gun. Sentencing is scheduled for July 1.
Included in the evidence presented at trial was a series of Facebook text messages Wendt exchanged with others between 2019 and 2022, including some in which he boasted of owning a “sh– ton” of machine guns, and of using a loophole in the law that enabled him to acquire weapons through his position as chief of police.
“Machine guns are worth bank money,” Wendt wrote to Noah Schilling, currently a Shelby County deputy. “Paid 4k for MP5SD. Can sell for 20k.”
“Wow!” Schilling replied. “How the f— you do that? Where the f—you buy that for 4k?”
“They don’t make anymore,” Wendt responded. “Bought thru PD. Checked it out. Wasn’t what PD wanted so (I) keeps it at BW (Outfitters) … Loop holes. Perfect. Legal. ATF guy told me how to do it.”
“F—ing smart! Well played, good sir,” Schilling replied.
“I’m building a machine gun arsenal,” Wend told the deputy in a separate exchange. “This chief (of) police gig is awesome … Send machine guns to my own gun store. LOL.”
“That would be so badass,” Schilling replied. “U got all the cool s—! … Ha ha ha! Yea, a chief gig would be pretty awesome if you had a money-making gun store. The chief pay isn’t real great.”
“Just need the title,” Wendt replied.
Schilling said Tuesday his assessment of Wendt’s actions was based on the chief’s claim that he was taking advantage of a loophole in the law and so his actions were legal.
“In my vision, if you can buy something for $4,000 and turn around and sell it for $20,000 and, you know, make 16 grand on something, that’s kind of a smart choice,” Schilling told the Iowa Capital Dispatch. “If it’s not legal, you shouldn’t do it, but he said it was legal, it was a loophole. So that’s a genius idea — if it’s legal.”
‘Chief status lets me sign for machine guns’
In a separate exchange with another individual, Wendt was asked whether he was getting “rich,” to which he replied, “Oh ya,” and indicated he was in the process of acquiring more automatic weapons.
In April 2019, Wendt wrote to a third individual and explained his situation, saying he was sticking with the “boring” police chief’s job in Adair for the pay and benefits and his access to machine guns.
“Got two years left on my IPERS, figured better finish it,” Wendt wrote, referring to the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System. “25k for two ten-hour shifts a week and free dental health vision insurance. I can be bored for that. And chief status lets me sign for machine guns for my indoor range. Win win.”
In a 2021 exchange with a fourth individual, Wendt inquired about the possibility of purchasing machine guns.
“We can make them,” the individual replied. “(But) you gotta know someone in power in LE office,” referring to law enforcement by the acronym.
“LOL,” Wendt replied. “I’m chief of police, bitch.”
In a 2020 series of messages, Wendt asked others about how to retrofit his personally owned Humvee, which had a gun turret, to accommodate a machine gun. When informed that such a task could cost $60,000 to $100,000, Wendt instructed a man to “see if we can get it done. I’ll need a tax deduction this year the way guns (are) selling for sure.”
FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said in a written statement about the case that Wendt committed “a stark abuse of the position of trust he held” in Adair.
“Brad Wendt exploited his position as chief of police to unlawfully obtain and sell guns for his own personal profit,” Kowel said. “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.”
State records indicate that the City of Adair did not fire Wendt when he was indicted in December 2022, but instead placed him on administrative leave. The records indicate that Mayor Joanne Byars and the city council agreed that if Wendt was acquitted of the charges, he could return to work as a part-time police officer.
His employment was terminated with his conviction in February. He then collected more than $900 in unemployment benefits before the city challenged those payouts by pointing to workplace misconduct.
A judge recently ruled that Wendt was not entitled to the benefits given the nature of his crimes and his on-the-job misconduct – but since the city failed to challenge the payment initially, he will not have to pay back the money. The city, however, may be billed for that expense.
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