Oregon Standoff Latest: First Defendant Sentenced to Jail

Corey Lequieu became the first of the 26 defendants charged in connection with the 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to be sentenced to jail.

Lequieu, 46, will spend the next two-and-a-half years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

He was the first defendant to plead guilty. Ten others have since followed suit. He will not have to testify against the others charged in the case.

Lequieu admitted to preventing federal workers from doing their job through threats, intimidation, or force.

Prosecutors said that he was one of the first to arrive at the refuge on January 2. He was captured on video asking others to support the takeover.

He left the refuge on January 26 - the day the Ammon and Ryan Bundy and other leaders of the takeover were arrested on their way to a community meeting in John Day.

Lequieu was arrested in Nevada, where he lives, on February 11th and returned to Oregon.