Feds won’t retry refuge occupier Ryan Bundy on FBI camera theft charge

The Oregonian – by Maxine Bernstein

Federal prosecutors won’t retry Oregon refuge occupier Ryan Bundy for the alleged theft of FBI surveillance cameras after a 2016 trial ended in a hung jury on the charge.

The jury acquitted Bundy, younger brother Ammon Bundy and five co-defendants of all other charges in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Prosecutors had argued that Ryan Bundy helped remove FBI cameras from a utility pole on a rural road outside the wildlife refuge on Jan. 15, 2016. They played a video for jurors that captured Ryan Bundy holding a ladder while occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum climbed it to remove the FBI equipment.  

Ryan Bundy countered at trial that Finicum and others had made an offer for the FBI to retrieve the cameras at a press conference held at the refuge.

In the government’s motion filed late Tuesday to dismiss the theft charge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel wrote, “It’s in the best interest of justice.” It was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought back to court.

The theft of government property charge is a felony, but likely would have resulted in probation. Ryan Bundy wasn’t accused of stealing the cameras, but “aiding and abetting” in their theft by holding the ladder.

Ryan Bundy, arrested leaving the Oregon refuge on Jan. 26, 2016, spent a year and nine months in pretrial custody before he was released from jail in Nevada in November, the day before he faced a separate federal trial in Las Vegas.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Bundy said he was aware of the government’s plan to throw out the theft charge from the refuge case. “Had they tried to prosecute, they would have been in gross error,” he said, citing the right to a speedy trial.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Nevada threw out federal conspiracy, assault and other charges against Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy and their father Cliven Bundy  in the April 2014 standoff with federal rangers outside Bunkerville, Nevada. The judge found prosecutors engaged in “flagrant misconduct” by not sharing multiple documents with the defense before trial as required.

In a related development, Oregon refuge occupier Jake Ryan asked this week for his court-appointed lawyer Jesse Merrithew to withdraw so he could represent himself at his sentencing hearing Wednesday. Merrithew has filed paperwork with the court to withdraw.

Ryan, who will turn 29 on Jan. 27, was convicted of digging two trenches at the refuge during the armed occupation and then ducking an arrest warrant. He was arrested on April 5, 2016 , found hiding in a shed in rural Clark County with a loaded .45-caliber handgun and several knives.

Ryan, of Plains, Montana, was convicted at trial of depredation of government property for digging trenches on what prosecutors called a “sensitive cultural site” that holds significant meaning to the Burns Paiute tribe. The damage from the trenches has been assessed at $146,659. He also was convicted of misdemeanors, including trespass and tampering with government vehicles and equipment.

Prosecutors are expected to seek a year and a half sentence, according to court records.

Merrithew, in a sentencing memo that had previously been filed with the judge, was to argue for probation with home detention, pointing out that his client offered but was never given a chance to plea to misdemeanor charges, although far more culpable refuge occupiers had that opportunity.

In an interview with federal authorities on Feb. 10, 2016 in Thompson Falls, Montana, Ryan said he traveled to the refuge with guns to support Ammon Bundy’s cause challenging federal management of public land.

Ryan’s mother Roxsanna Ryan helped organize and served as emcee of an event Saturday in Paradise, Montana, that drew Cliven Bundy and Ryan Bundy as speakers. The “Freedom and Property” rally was organized by a group called the Coalition of Western Property Owners.

— Maxine Bernstein

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/01/feds_wont_retry_refuge_occupie.html