Jerry DeLemus tells judge he is ‘Christian carpenter,’ pleads guilty to conspiracy and extortion
As expected, Rochester Tea Party leader and New Hampshire Veterans for Trump co-chair Jerry DeLemus pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges resulting from the 2014 armed confrontation with federal officials near the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada.
DeLemus pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and one count of interstate travel in aid of extortion. All other charges will be dismissed.
The two felonies carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. Prosecutors will ask for a sentence of six years in prison and no fine when DeLemus is sentenced on December 1. His attorney will argue for a more lenient sentence.
A conspiracy to impede law enforcement
DeLemus, who described himself as a “Christian carpenter,” acknowledged his guilt in a 15-page plea agreement. In that document, the 61-year-old Marine Corps veteran said he called Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in April, 2014 and after hearing him say that he “needed ‘bodies,’ which DeLemus understood to be people with firearms,” he “gathered multiple firearms and other gunmen” and traveled to Nevada to support Bundy.
There, DeLemus admitted, he “joined in a conspiracy with Bundy and others … to display force and aggression” to “impede or interfere” with a federal law enforcement officer’s duties.
“At least one member of the conspiracy assaulted federal law enforcement officers by brandishing a firearm … in order to intimidate the officers and to instill in them fear and apprehension of immediate bodily injury or death,” DeLemus said in the agreement. “The armed assault forced the law enforcement officers to relinquish their custody of the impounded cattle to Bundy and members of the conspiracy.”
In furtherance of the conspiracy, DeLemus admitted he “provided personal security to Bundy and other conspirators, organized and led other gunmen in conducting patrols and manning security checkpoints, called for others to travel to Bunkerville, Nevada, as a show of force in support of Bundy, and displayed firearms and made public statements to show and threaten force….”
‘A horrific plea’
Delemus has become something of a cause célèbre among anti-government activists. Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, who has described Bureau of Land Management law enforcement officers as "wannabe cops” and the BLM as “a bureaucratic agency of terrorism,” was in the courtroom and shared her observations on social media.
“I just left the courtroom with Jerry DeLemus. It was definitely a horrific plea,” she said in a Facebook video. “He was definitely, in my opinion, really rankled there. I don’t feel good about what just took place in the courtroom.”
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden said, “Federal law enforcement officers must be able to engage in their official duties, including executing federal court orders, without fear of assault or losing their lives. Persons who impede and interfere with the official duties of these law enforcement officers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”