Oregon standoff defendant Jason Blomgren Thursday admitted to patrolling the grounds of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and frequently standing guard with guns at its entrances as he pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge.

Jason Blomgren

Blomgren, 42, is the fourth person to plead guilty to the charge of conspiring to impede federal officers from doing their work at the federal wildlife sanctuary in Harney County, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.

Federal prosecutors are recommending Blomgren face the low end of the sentencing guidelines for his offense level, which would suggest six months home detention, according to court records. The federal judge isn't bound by that recommendation.

He's to be sentenced Oct. 14.

"Myself and others performed guard duty at different locations at the refuge,'' Blomgren told the judge. "Just routine guard duty rotations with weapons. That's really it.''

Blomgren, in an interview after his arrest, told federal agents that he drove to the refuge from his home in North Carolina on Jan. 11. He initially borrowed weapons from others, but later carried his own .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, prosecutors have said.

In a prior court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said Blomgren also told law enforcement 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.

Blomgren remained at the refuge through Jan. 25. On Jan. 25, he 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. Occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum 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, according to court testimony. He was arrested in Nevada on Feb. 10, Gabriel said.

Blomgren has been out of custody since early March, after his attorney argued he needed to return to North Carolina to care for his 17-year-old son who has autism. He had left his two sons with his elderly parents when he went to the refuge after reading about the Jan. 2 takeover on the internet. He had been on electronic monitoring and home detention.

As part of the plea deal, the government will dismiss at sentencing the second count Blomgren faces - possession of firearms or dangerous weapons in a federal facility, as long as he continues to accept responsibility for the crime.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown asked Blomgren if he had sufficiently reviewed all the court papers he had signed on Thursday, and Blomgren said he had.

Blomgren is one of 26 defendants indicted on the federal conspiracy charge stemming from the 41-day occupation of the refuge. A trial in the case is set for Sept. 7, though some defendants have requested a delay in their prosecutions.

The others who pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge are Corey Lequieu, Eric Flores and Geoffrey Stanek.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian