Aliquippa resident Nicholas John Padak, 31, tried to bury his crimes in the trunk of a car — but ATF agents were already watching. Padak pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to four counts of illegal firearm possession and attempting to tamper with evidence, according to U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady. The plea was entered before Senior U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose in Pittsburgh.
The trail started at Pittsburgh Tactical Firearms (PTF), a gun shop operated by Erik Lowry of McKeesport. Federal records show Padak brought two military-style rifles to the shop for repair. But with a 2014 felony conviction for Theft by Unlawful Taking in Beaver County, Padak was legally barred from handling any firearm or ammunition. That didn’t stop him — or stop him from trying to cover his tracks.
On April 11, 2016, ATF agents approached Padak away from his home and got him to agree to surrender his illegal weapons. Minutes later, Padak made a fatal call — to his mother. Surveillance footage from his Aliquippa residence showed her rushing multiple firearms outside, attempting to stash them in a car trunk. Agents seized six guns and ammo before they could vanish. One was a 300 Blackout caliber semi-automatic Anderson short-barreled rifle — required to be registered with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, but wasn’t.
Padak’s illegal arsenal didn’t stop there. He also acquired a seventh firearm through an unlawful purchase on April 30, 2015, picked it up from Lowry on July 30, 2015, and later sold it. Every move violated federal law. His actions didn’t just break the rules — they threatened public safety in a region already grappling with gun violence.
Lowry, the gun dealer at the center of the scheme, was sentenced in January 2018 to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and fined $30,000. He was convicted of possessing an unregistered firearm, witness tampering, and attempting to tamper with evidence. His business, Renaissance Electric, LLC, doing business as Pittsburgh Tactical Firearms, was shut down. Both men’s fates were sealed by sloppy tradecraft and relentless ATF work.
Judge Ambrose has set Padak’s sentencing for September 3, 2019, at 10 a.m. The law mandates forfeiture and destruction of all seized firearms and ammunition. Padak now faces up to 50 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine, or both. The final sentence will reflect the severity of the crimes and his criminal past. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt is prosecuting. This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DOJ’s nationwide push to crush violent crime through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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