Corey Lequieu pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to impede federal officers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, becoming the first of 26 defendants indicted on the charge to admit using threats, intimidation or force to take over the federal bird sanctuary and keep federal workers out.

Federal prosecutors will recommend that Lequeiu spend two-and-a-half years in prison.

As part of the plea deal, the government agreed not to level other federal charges against Lequieu, including felon in possession of a firearm in either Oregon or Nevada, or any potential federal charges stemming from his purported ties to the 2014 Cliven Bundy standoff near Bunkerville.

Lequieu, 46, must pay restitution to the government, an amount yet to be determined, and waived any right to an appeal. He will remain in custody pending his Aug. 25 sentencing.

Ramon Pagan, Lequieu's court-appointed lawyer, said his client took the deal, aware that he could have faced much more prison time if he faced a felon in possession of a firearm charge considering his earlier convictions.

"This agreement gives him kind of the light at the end of the tunnel where he can see himself getting back to providing for his family and the people he loves,'' Pagan said.

The maximum sentence for the federal conspiracy charge is six years in prison.

The government was ready to prove that Lequieu had attended a rally in a Safeway parking lot in Burns on Jan. 2 and traveled in a convoy with Ammon Bundy and others to the refuge, where they were armed and "cleared the buildings'' on the federal property, according to U.S. Assistant Attorney Craig Gabriel.

Lequieu and others used threats and intimidation to prevent federal officers from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from doing their jobs, used government vehicles and construction equipment to block access to the refuge and stood with occupation leaders who vowed to remain at the refuge until their demands were met, Gabriel told the court.

Fish & Wildlife Service employees were scared for their safety and found it impossible to go to work at the refuge, Gabriel said.

Ammon Bundy, the leader of the 41-day occupation, has said they were protesting the federal control of public land. He's the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose 2014 showdown with federal agents trying to round up cattle over unpaid grazing fees drew national attention.

Lequieu, of Fallon, Nevada, left the refuge either late Jan. 26 or early Jan. 27, after the FBI and state police arrested Ammon Bundy and other leaders during a stop outside the refuge. State police troopers shot and killed occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum during the confrontation.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown asked Lequieu to explain in his own words what he did, and he replied, "Basically just being there.''

"Mere presence is not a crime,'' the judge told him.

She then went step by step through the elements of the federal conspiracy charge, asking if he agreed with at least one other person to impede federal officers and block their access to the refuge while possessing a gun?

"Yes, your honor,'' he told her.

Asked by the judge why he wasn't taking the case to trial, Lequieu said, "Because I'm going to get hammered by ex-felon (possession of a firearm charge). ... It's damned if I do, damned if I don't.''

His lawyer made it clear after the court hearing that Lequieu hasn't agreed to cooperate with the government in the pending conspiracy case against 25 co-defendants.

"He has not met with the government. He has no intention of meeting with the government,'' Pagan said.

Lequieu's guilty plea comes a month after a federal judge ruled he was too dangerous to be released from custody pending trial. Lequieu told a judge last month, "I regret this whole case we're going through" and added that he had been taking Bible study courses while in jail.

Lequieu was arrested Feb. 11 in Nevada and returned to Oregon. A federal grand jury indicted him on three charges: federal conspiracy to impede federal officers at the refuge through intimidation, threats or force; possession of firearms or dangerous weapons at a federal facility; and using or carrying firearms in the course of a violent crime.

The judge made sure Lequieu was aware that the third charge is under legal challenge by defense lawyers in the case.

"I didn't really understand that charge myself, your honor,'' Lequieu told her. "In this whole case, the only violence was the government murdering LaVoy Finicum.''

At Lequieu's sentencing, the government will dismiss the other two charges as long as he continues to accept responsibility for the criminal conspiracy, the judge told him.

Lequieu and his lawyer believed he "faced exposure'' for additional charges filed in Oregon or Nevada.

During an earlier hearing, Gabriel said Lequieu had made violent threats against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the FBI and stood with Cliven Bundy in the past, claiming ties to the Nevada and 3 percent militias.

Lequieu turned up on law enforcement's radar in Harney County in December, shortly before the refuge was occupied, Gabriel said. On Dec. 17, Oregon State Police issued a bulletin to the FBI, alerting federal agents to alleged threats that Lequieu was making in Harney County.

"Most importantly, Cody Lequieu, 41 yoa is talking openly about killing police officers. He apparently is in the area. He blames LE (Law Enforcement) for his troubles,'' the state police bulletin read, according to Gabriel.

While at the refuge, Lequieu was on guard duty, armed with his assault rifle, while his girlfriend, Deborah Carter Pope, stayed at the refuge, helping with the cooking, Gabriel noted. Pope, who Lequieu said simply volunteered to cook, wasn't indicted.

According to the federal prosecutor, Lequeiu's girlfriend also was with Lequieu, dressed in fatigues, standing beside Cliven Bundy in September 2014, holding a sign that read, "I STAND WITH CLIVEN BUNDY AGAINST THE COMMUNIST OPPRESSION OF THE BLM AND THE OBAMA REGIME !!! THIS WE WILL DEFEND! NEVADA STATE MILITIA BATTLE BORN III %''

Last week, defendant Scott Willingham, who was part of the security team during the takeover of the Malheur efuge, pleaded guilty to stealing government property. He was never charged in the conspiracy case.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian