Blaine Cooper, a recruiter who encouraged people to bring their guns to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge during the occupation, pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal conspiracy charge and is poised to accept a plea deal in his federal indictment in Nevada.
Cooper, 37, of Humboldt, Arizona, is the first defendant in the Oregon standoff case to seek a global resolution in the federal prosecutions pending against him in both states.
Cooper is likely to plead guilty to at least one of the 11 offenses he's charged with stemming from the 2014 armed standoff with federal officers over grazing cattle on U.S. land near Cliven Bundy's ranch in southern Nevada. He's also expected to face a stiffer prison sentence in that case.
A tentative agreement, not yet formally accepted, would have Cooper pleading guilty to two charges in Nevada and facing a six-year sentence.
In Oregon, Cooper, 37, is expected to get credit for time served as part of a recommended sentence of six months in custody, followed by six months in either a halfway house or home detention. He's already been in custody nearly five months.
Krista Shipsey, Cooper's defense lawyer, urged Cooper's co-defendants and others to respect his choice.
"It's incredibly hard for him to be here today,'' Shipsey said in court Thursday. "He felt he needed to take care of this, but I hope they respect this is what's best for him.''
Cooper had wanted to resolve the cases for a long time, she said.
"He is very apologetic about his behavior,'' Shipsey said. "He felt like a nobody, and this movement gave him a purpose in his life...The fame took over his senses.''
Federal prosecutors have no evidence that Cooper had a firearm at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said. But he was part of the first convoy of people to drive to the federal wildlife sanctuary on Jan. 2 from the demonstration in Burns, where he was protesting the return to federal prison of father and son ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond.
Cooper, who has registered a film company called Third Watch Media, carried a camera while co-defendants armed with firearms cleared the refuge buildings that day, the prosecutor said. Cooper also was seen driving government trucks on the refuge, Gabriel said.
On Jan. 3, Cooper appeared on a video with occupation leader Ammon Bundy, in which Bundy promised to make the refuge a base for patriots to live and stay for several years, Gabriel said. Cooper introduced himself on the video, and urged those who come to the refuge to, "Bring your arms!'' Cooper left the refuge on Jan. 26 or 27, and was arrested in Utah on Feb. 11.
Before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown accepted Cooper's guilty plea to the federal conspiracy charge, she asked him to explain what he did.
"Um, well, I felt that we had to protest, speak out against something evil that happened both against the Hammonds,'' and the ranchers fighting with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Cooper told the court.
He said he took his camera to the refuge to raise awareness. He admitted he appeared on video with Ammon Bundy, urging patriots to show up at the refuge with firearms.
"I could see how calling people out to a refuge armed could be intimidating,'' Cooper said.
Cooper, who has a prior domestic violence conviction, is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
A photo from his participation in the 2014 Nevada standoff, though, shows him holding a gun.
In the Nevada case, a Facebook exchange Cooper had with co-defendant Pete Santilli on April 8, 2014, was cited in court documents, in which Cooper wrote to Santilli that it was time to stop "all this huffing and puffing'' over the microphones and "go down and do what we got to do'' in Nevada.
In federal court documents, prosecutors in Nevada described Cooper as a mid-level leader and organizer in the 2014 standoff there. They alleged he recruited gunmen and other followers to the Bundy Ranch to confront law enforcement officers, conducted reconnaissance missions and provided personal protection for "members of the criminal enterprise.'' In the Nevada case, he was indicted on 11 charges, including conspiracy to impede federal officers and assault on a federal officer.
Cooper is the seventh person of the 26 defendants charged with federal conspiracy in the Malheur refuge case to plead guilty in a negotiated deal.
As part of his plea arrangement in Oregon, federal prosecutors said they won't bring any other criminal charges against Cooper stemming from his alleged involvement in the earlier Sugar Pine Mine standoff outside Grants Pass in the spring of 2015.
There, members of the constitutional activist group the Oath Keepers were recruiting people to stand as armed guards for a gold mine on federal land where the claim holders were in a dispute with federal regulators.
Cooper also gave up his right to appeal the Oregon sentence, and agreed to pay restitution when that amount is determined. His sentencing is set for Nov. 18.
Cooper is expected to be transferred to Nevada at some point to enter a plea in that case.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian