The machine gun, the prosecutor said, is "capable of killing a person from over a mile away, taking out the engine block of a vehicle, shooting through a brick wall."

And Michael R. Emry's intent, he said, was to get the stolen .50-caliber gun to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation.

"He couldn't because of the law enforcement presence," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Lichvarcik.

The prosecutor made the disclosures but provided few details during a federal court hearing this week in Eugene. Emry is being held on federal weapons charges.

Emry operated an online news service called "The Voice of Idaho" and was an Idaho militiaman who billed himself as an "embedded journalist" during the standoff in Harney County.

The militants who took over the refuge Jan. 2 maintained security patrols outfitted with side arms and rifles. The machine gun probably would have been the biggest weapon there had Emry succeeded. The .50-caliber gun, Lichvarcik said, is "a weapon of war" and "the silverback gorilla of the gun world."

Michael R. Emry

Emry was arrested in John Day in early May after FBI agents found the machine gun - identified by agents as an M2 Browning -- in a travel trailer serving as his home. The 54-year-old acknowledged that he stole it from a Boise dealer and ground off the serial numbers, Lichvarcik said. He said Emry was trying to sell the gun.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo ordered Emry to remain in custody, finding that "there are no conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of the community."

Prosecutors said Emry faces four years in prison.

Lichvarcik said an informant told authorities about Emry's plan to take the weapon to the refuge, which occupiers held for 41 days.

Scott Willingham, one of the militants who was part of the security force, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Emry was at the refuge not only for media purposes but because of his weapons expertise. He was not the informant in Emry's case.

Early in the occupation, he noted, Emry was set up in one of the small houses reserved for refuge employees when most occupiers shared sleeping quarters in a bunkhouse. He also said that he knows of one occupier who obtained an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle from Emry.

Willingham recently pleaded guilty to stealing a federal surveillance camera during the occupation.

Emry has described himself as the "Picasso of machine guns," and in 2004 testified in a Tennessee case that he had manufactured 66 illegal machine guns and constructed a large bomb. He was a cooperating witness at the time and was never charged.

Document: Michael Emry's 2004 testimony

During the May 23 court hearing in Eugene, Lichvarcik said FBI agents found a blasting cap - "a detonator for a bomb" - in Emry's trailer.

An informant told authorities that Emry spoke of having a large arsenal of weapons and access to grenades. He also talked of "shooting police officers and how a .50 cal would penetrate the side of a police car and a Kevlar vest," according to Lichvarcik.

The prosecutor said Emry was overheard on a phone call saying he knew the informant's identity and made what appeared to be a threatening remark.

"The confidential witness believes that Emry's conduct since being arrested is putting his or her life in danger," Lichvarcik said.

Emry's attorney, Mark Spence, questioned the informant's credibility in court. The informant, who was not identified, "has been unreliable in the past, can't be relied on, and appears to be engaged in sort of self-serving hyperbole," Spence said.

Spence asked that Emry be released until trial so he could help his wife get established before he faces "the possibility of a significant consequence" in the weapons case.

Seven people submitted letters urging Emry's release, including two volunteer Grant County sheriff's deputies.

Document: Letters of support

Judy Kerr of Canyon City, a retired Forest Service worker who is a public lands deputy, said Emry is "an even-tempered and peaceful individual who has acted as a calming influence at community meetings and gatherings." She said he had been "a regular guest in our home."

Elaine Smith of Prairie City, a special deputy for natural resource planning, said Emry is not "a danger to the community" and she hoped he "will be released to come back here to live."

-- Les Zaitz

@leszaitz