Bradley Wendt has already been convicted for illegally selling and buying machine guns while serving as police chief in Adair, Iowa. Now he faces possible prison time for buying weapons for the department and reselling them for profit.
A former Iowa police chief may serve prison time for his conviction on charges of using his office to buy an arsenal of weapons that included a Gatling gun and 90 machine guns, some of which he sold for profit in his private business.
Texts and emails highlight how Bradley Wendt, who headed a two-officer department, boasted how he used his law enforcement position to buy guns not available to the general public, then kept them or sold them at inflated prices in his gun store.
Being chief of police "is awesome," Wendt wrote in 2019 to an associate, according to court exhibits. "Send machine guns to my own gun store. LOL."
Wendt, 47, was convicted by a federal jury in February of conspiring to make false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, eight counts of making false statements, and illegal possession of a machine gun.
The former chief also purchased a Gatling gun and mounted it on his personal Humvee, according to federal prosecutors. The .50-caliber military weapon is used by the military on combat vehicles, helicopters and water vessels.
Police departments may buy or receive demonstrations of machine guns with approval from the ATF. A "law letter" must be filed with the federal agency, detailing how and why those weapons were needed, according to authorities.
Wendt made false claims about purchasing such weapons in his law letters, prosecutors said.
Wendt was fired as police chief after his arrest, but remains on unpaid leave with the department, authorities said. He was demoted to being a part-time officer, officials said.
The Adair Police Department, which serves the city's 800 residents, has only two fulltime officers, which includes the chief's position.
His sentencing is scheduled for July 1. He faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy conviction, five years imprisonment on each of the false-statement convictions and up to 10 years behind bars for illegally possessing a machine gun.
Wendt has said he plans to appeal his conviction.
In one post to a law enforcement colleague, Wendt wrote, "Machine guns are worth bank money. Paid 4k for MP5SD. Can sell for 20k."
The former police chief profited $80,000 from privately selling machine guns, according to federal prosecutors.
