Phoenix man gets 68 years in Bundy Ranch standoff

Associated Press Published 12:24 p.m. MT July 26, 2017




BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF TRIALS
Bundy Ranch trial: Carol Bundy speaks | 2:29Carol Bundy, in an interview with The Republic, said her husband, sons and others are really being tried for making federal authorities look bad and forcing them to back down in the face of a citizen uprising.


1 of 3




BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF TRIALS
BLM misconduct probe may derail Bundy ranch standoff trial | 0:48An investigation could derail one of the most high-profile land-use trials in modern Western history. Wochit


2 of 3




BUNDY RANCH STANDOFF TRIALS
Rancher: 'We did what we had to do' | 2:14Cliven Bundy refuses to pay fees for cattle grazing on public land for 20 years.


3 of 3



(Photo: Robert Anglen/The Republic)


A Phoenix man has been sentenced to more than 68 years in federal prison for his role as a gunman in a standoff that stopped federal agents from rounding up cattle near Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch in 2014.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas knocked a few years off the maximum recommended sentence of 73 years, after acknowledging Wednesday that 53-year-old Gregory Burleson has serious health issues and once was an informant for the FBI.

Burleson didn't apologize for going to the Bundy ranch in April 2014 but said he had no intention of assaulting anyone.

He was found guilty in April of threatening and assaulting a federal officer, carrying a weapon in a crime of violence, obstruction and traveling across state lines in aid of extortion.

Officials said the government agents were enforcing federal court orders to round up Bundy cattle over his failure to pay more than $1.1 million in fees for grazing on public land.

Protesters maintained they were responding to the use of dogs and stun guns by federal land management agents against Bundy family members.

Todd Engel of Idaho is due for sentencing Sept. 28.

The other four co-defendants are being retried, while Bundy and other defendants remain jailed pending trial later.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ear/513779001/