Bundy follower gets 68 years for role in
armed Nevada standoff
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[July 27, 2017]
By Steve Gorman
(Reuters) - One of two men convicted in the
first of several trials stemming from a 2014 standoff led by renegade
rancher Cliven Bundy against federal authorities in Nevada was sentenced
on Wednesday to 68 years in prison for his role in the armed
confrontation.
Gregory Burleson, 53, of Phoenix, was found guilty in April of eight
felony counts, including charges of threatening and assaulting federal
officers, obstruction of justice, interstate travel in aid of extortion
and firearms offenses related to a crime of violence.
The uprising at Bundy's ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada, 75 miles (120
km) northeast of Las Vegas, grew out of a dispute in which federal
agents seized Bundy's cattle over his refusal to pay fees required for
grazing his livestock on government land.
The standoff became a flashpoint in long-simmering tensions over federal
ownership of vast tracts of public lands in the West, and a rallying
point for right-wing militants who challenge the U.S. government's
authority in the region.
Burleson was the first of 17 defendants from the Bundy revolt to be
tried, convicted and sent to prison. A co-defendant found guilty by the
same jury faces sentencing in September.
Four others granted a mistrial in April are being retried in Nevada. Two
more groups of defendants, including Bundy and his sons, are scheduled
to stand trial later this year and next.
Two others charged in the case pleaded guilty separately. One received a
seven-year prison term, the other will be sentenced in January, said
Trisha Young, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Las Vegas.
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Protesters gather at the Bureau of Land Management's base camp,
where the cattle that were seized from rancher Cliven Bundy are
being held, near Bunkerville, Nevada April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Jim
Urquhart/File Photo
Two of Bundy's sons and four followers were acquitted of conspiracy
charges in a separate trial in October stemming from their armed
takeover of a federal wildlife center in Oregon in early 2016.
Wednesday's sentencing came days before various militia groups plan
a weekend rally near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Burleson and the five others with whom he was tried were described
by prosecutors as Bundy's "gunmen and followers," who showed up at
his ranch from neighboring Western states armed with assault rifles
and other weapons.
Prosecutors said all six were among hundreds who descended on
Bunkerville in April 2014 for a showdown with federal officers
providing security during a court-ordered roundup of Bundy's cattle.
Outgunned by Bundy's supporters, authorities released the cattle and
left the area. Although no shots were fired, prosecutors said
Burleson and his five co-defendants aimed rifles at law enforcement.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Grant McCool
and Lisa Shumaker)
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