Duane Leo Ehmer, the sole Oregon defendant convicted in the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge who became a symbol of the occupation for riding his horse named Hellboy around the bird sanctuary, was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in federal prison.

A jury this spring convicted Ehmer, now 47, of damaging government property by using a refuge excavator to dig a trench in the parking lot on Jan 27, 2016. It was the morning after occupation leaders had been arrested and spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum shot and killed by police while they traveled off the refuge.

Burns Paiute tribal member Diane Lorraine Teeman told the court that the trench digging, shown on live TV, was wrenching to watch, noting the site was an ancient burial ground for the Paiutes who had lived in the area of Malheur Lake for at least 15,000 years.

She called the lake the "heart'' of the tribal community. She said burial sites surrounded the trenches on three sides.



"There was a sense of devastation, helplessness and despair,'' she said, "because we knew our ancestors were being excavated.''

Ehmer's defense lawyer, Michele L. Kohler, said Ehmer's participation was minimal compared to co-defendant Jake Ryan. Ehmer started to build a defensive "foxhole'' because those left behind at the refuge feared an attack by the FBI, she said. Ehmer used the excavator for no longer than five to eight minutes after striking a cable underground.

"That was simply a place to retreat if shot upon,'' Kohler said.

Duane Ehmer, after his sentencing Thursday, said, "I don't like going to prison, but at the same time our kids are important enough to stand up for what is right.''

Ehmer, of Irrigon, read from a prepared statement as he stood before the judge in an American flag blazer with a photo of Finicum pinned to his lapel over a red-white-and-blue dress shirt. He said he didn't know that digging a hole on the western edge of the refuge property would disturb archeological artifacts.

"I have the utmost respect for Native Americans,'' he said. "I dug that hole. I never denied that, but it was only to save human life: my own and the lives of my friends.''

Prosecutors urged the court to consider the larger context of Ehmer's offense, that it was part of the lengthy takeover of the federal property where Ehmer was convicted of two misdemeanors, trespass and tampering with vehicles and equipment. Ehmer also was photographed on the refuge with a black assault rifle and served as an armed guard, they said.

"It was the culmination of a series of choices by Mr. Ehmer to damage a property and a place that was not his to damage,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan D. Knight said.

Kohler countered that Ehmer served in the Army for 10 years, didn't know the Bundys or any militia members before he went to the refuge and was acquitted of a conspiracy charge.

His roles at the refuge were riding Hellboy each morning around the refuge perimeter and receiving donated wood. He was armed with an antique 1861 black powder pistol on his waistband, Kohler said.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown rejected the prosecutor's push to increase Ehmer's sentence under a proposed terrorism enhancement, finding that his conviction for damaging government property didn't rise to an effort to influence the government through intimidation, coercion or retaliation.

Yet the judge did find that the offense involved a "reckless risk of death or serious injury.'' Still, she said Ehmer played a more minor role in the property damage compared to Ryan, who excavated a second trench.

Prosecutors estimated that both Ehmer and Ryan caused a total of $146,000 in damages. Each has agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution.

The judge's findings brought the range for Ehmer's sentence to between 10 and 16 months in prison. Knight recommended a year and two month sentence, while Kohler urged probation and home detention to allow Ehmer to work to pay off his restitution.

Ehmer pleaded for mercy, saying he was a proud veteran, a single father of a 14-year-old daughter and a small business owner. He went to Burns to find out what was happening in his backyard.

That's when he learned about two Harney County ranchers who were being sent back to prison to serve out five-year sentences for setting fires on public lands. Ehmer returned home, prayed and said God told him to return to the refuge with his horse and his flag.

"I stayed because of loyalty to my fellow man,'' he said.

Kohler argued that it would be unjust to send Ehmer to prison when he never got a plea offer and co-defendant Sean Anderson got probation but stayed at the refuge until the end of the 41-day occupation, fired shots at a federal surveillance plane and urged followers on a livestream video to come to the refuge and kill any law enforcement officers who stood in their way.

The judge said Kohler's arguments were "widely misplaced,'' as the court has no control over the charges brought or plea offers made.

Ehmer's damage to federal property can't be viewed in a vacuum, Brown ruled. It occurred during his unlawful presence at the refuge for weeks.

"It's not lost on me that Mr. Ehmer has never acknowledged he did anything wrong,'' the judge said. "He hasn't even apologized today to the Burns Paiute Tribe for conduct that obviously caused great harm to that community.''

Ehmer must turn himself in on Jan. 24. He's likely to serve 10 months because he'll get credit for good time, the judge noted.

Ehmer's lawyer said her client plans to appeal, largely challenging the addition of new charges such as depredation of government property and the misdemeanor allegations long after the initial conspiracy indictment was returned.

"I don't like going to prison, but at the same time our kids are important enough to stand up for what is right,'' Ehmer said after leaving the courtroom.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian