Duane Leo Ehmer of Irrigon has been named on misdemeanor charges filed Dec. 19 by federal prosecutors.
Ehmer is among a second round of defendants accused in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016.
Earlier, in October 2016, a federal jury acquitted the first round of defendants on federal conspiracy charges following a five week trial. The trial for Ehmer and other defendants is scheduled for Feb. 14.
The Oregonian of Portland reports that all seven scheduled for the second trial still are charged with conspiring to impede federal employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or federal Bureau of Land Management from carrying out their work at the federal wildlife refuge during the occupation.
The Oregonian said that six of the seven, excluding Ehmer, are also charged with possession of a firearm in a federal facility during the course of the alleged conspiracy. The gun and conspiracy charges are felonies. Read the full story online.
The additional charges filed in December allege that between Jan. 2 and Feb. 11, Ehmer was among seven defendants who “knowingly and unlawfully” trespassed on and occupied the Malheur refuge without authorization, a Class B misdemeanor.
The charges allege that on Jan. 27, 2016, Ehmer and a fellow defendant unlawfully entered and started an excavator that was federal property, a Class B misdemeanor.
That same day, the document alleges, Ehmer removed a maroon pouch with checks belonging to the Friends of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, credit cards, gasoline cards, a government identification card and cash, a Class B misdemeanor.
In another update, the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been voted Oregon’s top story of 2016 by editors and news directors around the state, based on voting sent out by The Associated Press. Read the full story online.
