The leader of the standoff in Oregon offered to plead guilty only if the prosecutors will drop the charges against the protesters for their roles in an armed occupation at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.
Ammon Bundy, the 40-year-old activist who led the protest and armed takeover at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, said he will take all the responsibility over the said incident and enter into a plea agreement in January, the Guardian reported. After he was arrested, Mike Arnold, his defense attorney filed the motion.
Arnold revealed Bundy initiated the offer "despite being innocent of the charge and simply requested that the government dismiss charges against all other protesters and let those then at the refuge go home without charges or violence." The said offer was denied by the US Attorneys office.
Bundy, along with his brother, Ryan, and other co-defendants, are due to stand trial in this September, Katu 2 reported. Bundy's lawyer also requested to give them more time to prepare for the hearing, since his client has been staying in prison in Nevada.
Arnold claimed his client has been deprived of food and sleep, and added his written legal papers have been taken away with no reason. He also wrote that Bundy has not been able to contact him privately. If a judge denies the extension request, his attorney asked that Bundy instead receive an "immediate trial date", within the next 30 days.
The case involves more than two dozen defendants who participated in an armed militia standoff in January that continued on for 41 days on public lands to protest the federal government's treatment of ranchers, Portland Patch reported. Bundy was among the 27 protesters charged of the said armed takeover.
He was transferred to Nevada two weeks ago to face the charges of force intimidation and threats, to conspire against the government and serious firearm counts. The protest is in connection with an armed confrontation with government officers two years ago that was led by his father, Cliven. A judge scheduled a trial in February next year.
