Cliven Bundy Nevada Ranch Standoff: Phoenix Man Gets 68-Year Sentence

LAS VEGAS, NV — A Phoenix man was sentenced to more than 68 years in federal prison for his role as a gunman in a standoff that stopped federal agents from rounding up cattle near Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch three years ago.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas knocked a few years off the maximum recommended sentence of 73 years and acknowledged Wednesday that Gregory Burleson, 53, has serious health issues and once was an informant for the FBI.

Burleson was found guilty in April of threatening and assaulting a federal officer, carrying a weapon in a crime of violence, obstruction and traveling across state lines in aid of extortion. He didn't apologize for going to the Bundy ranch in April 2014, but said he didn't plan to assault anyone. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Officials said the government agents were enforcing federal court orders to round up Bundy cattle over his failure to pay more than $1.1 million in fees for grazing on public land.

Protesters maintained they were responding to the use of dogs and stun guns by federal land management agents against Bundy family members.

Burleson was one of two defendants found guilty of some charges by a U.S. District Court jury that failed to reach verdicts for four other defendants.

Todd Engel of Idaho is due for sentencing Sept. 28. The other four co-defendants are being retried, while Bundy and other defendants remain jailed pending trial later.

Photo credit: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office