Nevada rancher and melon farmer Cliven Bundy racked up more than $1.1 million fees and penalties dating back to the 1990s for letting cows graze illegally on government land near his ranch outside Las Vegas.
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“The defendants recruited, organized, and led hundreds of other followers in using armed force against law enforcement officers in order to thwart the seizure and removal of Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal public lands”, the indictment said. Those involved in the wildlife refuge standoff will face trial in OR before being returned to Nevada for prosecution for their 2014 charges, while Cliven Bundy will first face federal prosecution for the 2014 charges in Nevada.
The 2014 standoff came after Bundy had grazed his cattle on the public’s lands without pay fees for two decades, running up a bill of unpaid fees of more than a million dollars.
The indictment released on Wednesday said Cliven Bundy was the leader of the movement to extort the federal government into returning his cattle.
In arguing against bail for Bundy, federal prosecutors portrayed Bundy as “a danger to the community”, according to court documents.
No arraignment date has yet been set for Cliven Bundy, his sons, and the other two BLM protesters who were just recently indicted on federal charges. Foreshadowing the armed occupation he would later spearhead with his brother, Ammon Bundy characterized the 2014 standoff as a minor skirmish in a larger battle against the government.
The maximum sentence is five years for conspiracy to commit an offense against the US, six years for conspiracy to impede and injure a federal officer; 20 years for assault on a federal officer; 10 years for threatening a federal law enforcement officer; 10 years for obstruction of justice, 20 years for interfering with interstate commerce by extortion, 20 years for interstate travel in aid of extortion and a five-year minimum for using and carrying a firearm in a crime of violence.
Bundy allows his cattle to “run wild on the public lands with little, if any, human interaction until such time he traps them and hauls them off to be sold or slaughtered for his own consumption”, prosecutors said.
Cliven Bundy is accused of unlawfully directing more than 200 followers to stop federal agents and contract cowboys who were trying to enforce a court order to round up about 400 of his cattle two years ago.
Laura Bucheit, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Nevada, said, “This indictment sends a resounding message to those who wish to participate in violent acts that our resolve to pursue them and enforce the law remains unwavering”.
The government is now questioning Bundy’s ranching skills. The memo also connects the elder Bundy to his sons’ takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Cliven Bundy is pictured in this undated booking handout image provided by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, February 11, 2016. Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward publically rejected that argument. “I can’t break the law”.
You see, this indictment has nothing to do with that armed occupation. “And yet, over the last 22 months, Nevada has done nothing”. We’re not gonna give up. This is my message.
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“He’s not a flight risk”. “For the record, I agree with everything in the government’s memo”, Stewart said.
