If he must stay in jail, Pete Santilli would rather remain in Oregon to help his lawyer here prepare his defense against the conspiracy charge he faces in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

That's what Santilli's lawyer requested Friday moments after a magistrate judge denied the independent broadcaster's request to be released in the other federal case against him -- the 2014 armed standoff with federal officers near the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada.

Under the ruling, deputy U.S. marshals would transfer Santilli to a jail in Nevada.

"We want him to stay here and revoke his release order here in Oregon,'' his court-appointed lawyer Thomas Coan said in court.

Magistrate Judge Paul Papak said he couldn't overrule U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown's earlier decision to release Santilli to a halfway house in Portland in the refuge case.

Coan then asked Papak to put a stay, or a hold on Santilli's detention order in the Nevada case, so Coan could have a chance to ask Brown to dismiss her release order in the Oregon case and allow his client to remain in custody in Oregon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight said the government wouldn't object to the hold on the Nevada detention order, keeping Santilli in a Portland jail. Yet Knight added, "I can't help but point out the irony.''

Santilli's lawyer successfully fought over weeks for his client's release in the Oregon case and is now asking the court to overrule it.

The unusual development reflected the challenges of separate federal indictments proceeding against a defendant in different jurisdictions.

Coan said it would be hard for him to work on Santilli's defense if his client was in Nevada.

Santilli, 50, faces a 16-count indictment in Nevada, accused of conspiring to assault federal officers, threaten officers, obstruct justice, extort officers, and use and brandish a firearm in relation to a crime of violence stemming from the armed standoff outside the Bundy ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada.

The government alleges Santilli recruited gunmen to the ranch, helped lead an assault on U.S. Bureau of Land Management officers trying to roundup cattle on federal land, conducted reconnaissance of hotels where federal officers were staying and delivered an ultimatum to the land bureau's agent in charge to leave the impound site.

He was arrested Jan. 26 in Burns and indicted on a single charge of federal conspiracy to impede officers from their duties at the wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre, who works in Nevada, came to Portland to argue for Santilli's detention on the Nevada case. He described Santilli as part of the "organizing nucleus'' of the Nevada conspiracy who used his Internet persona to call armed militia to stand up to Bureau of Land Management officers and prevent them from impounding Cliven Bundy's cattle. He called Santilli a "shill'' and "propagandist'' for Cliven Bundy, who "beat the drums'' over the Internet to incite and motivate followers to Nevada.

"He was the recruiter, his shill, his propagandist, his foot soldier,'' Myhre said.

The 2014 standoff wasn't some heat of the moment action, but a "cold and calculated process'' that put officers' lives in danger, Myhre argued. He estimated that more than 270 followers came to Nevada to support Cliven Bundy that April and about 60 of them carried guns.

"Without his role,'' Myhre said, pointing to Santilli, "it's doubtful they could have gathered up as many people as they could.''

Myhre played for the court audio from a phone call Santilli made on his live online broadcast to federal officer Daniel Love, the special agent in charge of corralling Bundy's cattle, some time after the standoff.

"Hey Daniel P. Love, Special Agent in Charge in screwing up Bundy Ranch No. 1,'' Santilli is heard saying. Santilli mentioned that he's heard the Bureau of Land Management is considering taking over another 3 million acres and tells Love, "We the People will secure that dirt and will assure you'll be sent packing again. We're prepared to die to make sure you never succeed in touching any of the Bundys.''

Coan has argued that Santilli isn't violent and is being punished for his First Amendment right to free speech and his "shock jock'' bravado. He called his client a peaceful, law-abiding person who didn't carry a firearm in Nevada and is willing to get involved in protests for what he believes is right. Coan said his client never made any true threats against anyone that has resulted in criminal charges.

If Santilli is so dangerous, Coan asked, why did federal authorities in Nevada wait nearly two years to issue an indictment in the Bundy ranch case.

Myhre responded that federal law enforcement officials sought to de-escalate the situation and so didn't conduct immediate interviews, crime scene investigations or arrests after the 2014 standoff. He also pointed out that Cliven Bundy and others had bodyguards around them frequently.

"The thought was let everyone disperse,'' he told the court.

As a result, it took federal authorities time to identify who was at the stand-off, where they came from and what their roles were.

"It was not that the government decided to return a 62-page indictment on a whim because it had nothing else to do,'' Myhre said.

Papak agreed with Myhre's argument, finding substantial evidence that Santilli worked to incite and recruit Bundy followers to Nevada in 2014. He also found that Santilli engaged in threatening conduct.

"In my view you can't immunize your own conduct simply by reporting on it at a later date,'' Papak said.

After the hearing, Coan said he was disappointed Papak didn't follow Judge Brown's lead in setting conditions for Santilli's release. Yet Coan said that he was't surprised since the Nevada indictment carries more serious charges.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian