Nevada rancher Cliven D. Bundy asked for a court-appointed attorney as he made his first appearance Thursday in federal court following his arrest the night before at Portland International Airport.

Bundy, 69, his thinning salt-and-pepper hair slicked back, shuffled into the courtroom, chains at his ankles and wearing standard blue jail garb.

He pulled a pair of eyeglasses from a pocket of his jail shirt and spent nearly 30 minutes sitting beside an attorney, reviewing a 32-page federal complaint stemming from the 2014 standoff at his ranch northeast of Las Vegas.

Assistant federal public defender Ruben Iniguez was appointed to represent Bundy for the day but said his office couldn't continue to represent him because it represents others in the case.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart directed Bundy to present a financial affidavit to the court before a court-appointed attorney could be assigned.

"The court only appoints counsel for those who can't afford an attorney,'' Stewart said.

The federal complaint filed Thursday charges the Bundy patriarch with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, assault on a federal law enforcement officer, carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, obstruction of justice and interference with commerce by extortion.

The complaint alleges that Bundy and four unnamed co-conspirators organized and led a massive armed assault against federal law enforcement officers in and around Bunkerville, Nevada, in April 2014 to thwart them from seizing and removing 400 cattle on public land.

The co-conspirators aren't named in the complaint but appear to be Bundy's sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli, based on the complaint's allegations.

Bundy has refused to comply with four lawful court orders since 1993 that required him to pay fees or obtain permits from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to graze cattle on public land, the complaint says. Bundy owes the agency $1 million in unpaid fees and penalties.

Bundy's request for a court-appointed lawyer sparked outrage on social media, with many questioning on Twitter and Facebook how someone who is so anti-government suddenly wants the government to pay for his legal representation.

The federal government plans to seek Bundy's continued detention as a flight risk and danger to the community, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles F. Gorder Jr. told the court.

A detention hearing was set for next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for next Friday.

Iniguez told the court that Bundy needs his prescription medication, noting that his blood pressure was dangerously high, recorded at 188 over 122, when he arrived at the downtown jail in Portland on Wednesday night.

The public defender asked the judge if U.S. marshals could locate the carry-on bag Bundy had brought to Portland that held the medication. Iniguez said he understood that deputy marshals had looked for the medication but didn't find it and asked that they look again.

The judge urged Bundy to go through the "normal course'' of getting evaluated by medical staff in the jail. The U.S. marshals usually take away medication that defendants have on them once they are booked into custody, Stewart said.

At some point, Bundy is expected to be returned to Nevada to be prosecuted there, said Billy Williams, Oregon's U.S. attorney.

If convicted, Bundy faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, up to 10 years in prison on the obstruction of justice charge, up to 20 years in prison on the assault on a federal law enforcement and interference with commerce by extortion charges and a mandatory minimum consecutive seven years on the use and carry of a firearm in relation to a crime a violence charge. The charges could also bring up to $250,000 per count.

His court appearance came about two and a half hours after the last four holdouts at the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge surrendered to authorities.

Bundy's two sons, Ammon Bundy, 40, and Ryan Bundy, 43, are in custody in Portland - two of now 25 people indicted on a separate federal conspiracy charge stemming from the 41-day armed takeover of the wildlife sanctuary outside Burns.

The occupation leaders have said they took over the refuge Jan.2 in protest of the resentencing of Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steve Hammond and to show their opposition to federal control of public lands.

Cliven Bundy had traveled to Portland intending to visit with his sons, participate in a news conference to decry their continued detention and possibly travel to Burns. Those plans were derailed when FBI agents took him into custody at 10:10 p.m. at the airport.

A federal indictment also was unsealed Thursday naming seven more people associated with the occupation.

They were arrested in six states on the single federal conspiracy charge: Blaine Cooper, 36, of Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona; Corey Lequieu, 44, of Fallon, Nevada; Neil Wampler, 68, of Los Osos, California; Jason Charles Blomgren, 41, of Murphy, North Carolina; Darryl William Thorn, 31, of Marysville, Washington; Wesley Kjar, 32, of Manti, Utah; and Eric Lee Flores, 22, of Tulalip, Washington.

Each is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday or Friday in the jurisdictions where they were arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland. Two other unnamed defendants were also indicted but are still being sought.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian