Former Iowa police chief sentenced to 5 years in prison in federal gun case

DES MOINES — A former small-town Iowa police chief has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for lying to authorities to acquire machine guns that prosecutors said he sold for his own profit.

Former Adair Police Chief Brad Wendt was convicted in February 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 sentenced Monday, KCCI-TV reported.

Wendt was indicted in December 2022. Authorities said he bought machine guns for the police department, then sold them for an almost $80,000 personal profit. Trial evidence showed he bought the machine guns for his gun store, including a .50-caliber machine gun he mounted to his own armored Humvee, federal prosecutors said.

Wendt's attorney, Nicholas Klinefeldt, said in February that the jury convicted him based on erroneous jury instructions, and that an appeal was planned. A message was left Tuesday with Klinefeldt.

Adair has about 800 residents. Wendt became the western Iowa town’s police chief in July 2018.