Ammon Bundy's bodyguard, Brian Cavalier, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to impede federal workers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and carrying guns in offices, sleeping quarters and other buildings at the federal wildlife sanctuary.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said the government will recommend a prison sentence ranging from one year and three months to one year and nine months for Cavalier, the first defendant in Bundy's inner circle to accept a plea deal.
The negotiated sentence falls far below the maximum penalties for the two federal charges, which are six years in prison for the conspiracy offense and five years for possessing firearms in a federal facility.
He's also the first of the 26 defendants indicted in the conspiracy stemming from the 41-day armed takeover of the refuge to plead guilty to the firearms possession charge. Five others had the gun charge dismissed after they pleaded guilty to the single charge of conspiring to impede U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management employees from carrying out their work at the eastern Oregon refuge.
"These are the times that try men's souls, and Mr. Cavalier did what he felt is best for his case,'' Cavalier's attorney Todd Bofferding said in a statement after the hearing. "Mr. Cavalier still loves America no matter what.''
Sentencing is set for Sept. 30.
Brian Cavalier Whatever sentence Cavalier, 45, of Bunkerville, Nevada, receives in this case could run consecutive to a sentence imposed in Nevada if Cavalier is convicted on a federal indictment pending against him there stemming from the 2014 standoff with federal officers near the Bundy ranch in Nevada.
Cavalier had identified himself as the personal bodyguard of Ammon Bundy and Bundy's parents Cliven and Carol on a video posted on the internet on Sept. 9, federal prosecutors have said. Cavalier did work as a ranch hand for Cliven Bundy in exchange for room and board for several years, according to his attorney.
Cavalier, dressed in striped gray jail scrubs, told the court he accepted responsibility for the offenses and said he was "fully aware'' of the conditions of the agreements reached with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon.
Cavalier attended a protest in Burns on Jan. 2 to demonstrate against the return to federal prison of two Harney County ranchers. From the parking lot of a Burns Safeway, he traveled with others to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that day, and spent the first five days as Ammon Bundy's "armed personal security detail,'' Gabriel said.
The defendant left Oregon for more than a week but returned to the refuge later in January to continue his security role. On Jan. 26, he was riding in a Jeep with Ammon Bundy and others when FBI agents and state police stopped the vehicle along rural U.S. 395 as they were driving to a community meeting in John Day.
When Cavalier was arrested, he was not armed at the time, Gabriel said. During the second part of his stay at the refuge, the government also doesn't have evidence that he was armed, Gabriel noted.
"I was a body guard for Ammon Bundy which could have led to intimidation for any employee,'' Cavalier told the court. Cavalier, a broad-shouldered sturdy man who has tattoos that run from his neck down both arms to his fingers, goes by the nickname "Booda.''
The judge asked the prosecutor if Cavalier's statement was a sufficient acknowledgement of his offenses.
Gabriel pressed for more, saying he'd like Cavalier to admit that one of the purposes of the federal conspiracy was to intimidate federal officers from working at the refuge, even if the occupiers also had other purposes. Further he asked that he acknowledge he was part of a conspiracy involving at least one other person.
"Yes, your honor ,I did agree with somebody to impede,'' Cavalier added, his hands clasped behind his back.
Ammon Bundy and other defendants are scheduled to go to trial Sept. 7.
Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams attended the plea hearing. He declined comment afterwards.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian