A federal judge Wednesday ordered the pretrial release of Jason C. Blomgren, one of the 26 people now indicted on federal conspiracy and other charges in the armed seizure of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.

Jason Blomgren, 41

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel had argued against Blomgren's release.

Gabriel cited Blomgren's involvement in security patrols and guard duty at the refuge site, a Facebook photo of Blomgren posing at the refuge with a long gun and a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol and three magazines of ammunition found on him when he was arrested.

Blomgren, in an interview with police after his arrest, said he drove to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County from North Carolina several days after the leaders seized it, according to Gabriel.

Blomgren told authorities that the occupation leaders never booby-trapped the wildlife sanctuary but talked about using "IEDS,'' or improvised explosive devices, when planning for a worst-case scenario and using at least two drones to spy on the FBI, the prosecutor said.

Blomgren told law enforcement officials that he initially borrowed weapons from others, but later carried his own .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, Gabriel said.

On Jan. 25, Blomgren went to John Day to help set up for a planned community meeting a day before the occupation leaders were stopped and arrested by federal agents and state police on their way to the meeting from the refuge. Occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, 54, was shot and killed by state police during the stop along U.S. 395.

Blomgren left Oregon after those arrests, attended Finicum's funeral in Utah and then went to the Bundy ranch in Nevada.

Blomgren needs to return to North Carolina to help his 17-year-old son who has autism because Blomgren is the only one who can calm him down, said his court-appointed lawyer Robert Rainwater.

Blomgren had left his two sons with his elderly parents when he went to the refuge on Jan. 9 or 10 after reading about the Jan. 2 takeover on the Internet.

His lawyer said Blomgren doesn't bear anti-government views but does hold a different interpretation of the U.S. Constitution relating to federal control of public land.

His lawyer also said Blomgren holds a permit to carry a weapon and presented it to the judge.

Federal Magistrate Judge Paul Papak agreed to release Blomgren from custody once his father arrives in Portland to return with him to North Carolina in Blomgren's vehicle.

Blomgren will be on electronic monitoring and home detention, pending trial.

Earlier Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty to a new indictment charging him with conspiracy to impede federal officers and possession of firearms in a federal facility.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian