DENVER, the United States, July 27 (Xinhua) -- An Arizona man who said he was "hell-bent on killing federal agents" was handed a 68-year sentence by a federal judge on Wednesday.
Gregory Burleson, 53, was the first to be sentenced for his role in the 2014 armed standoff between federal agents and supporters of Cliven Bundy near his Nevada ranch.
A total of 17 people, including Cliven Bundy and his sons, Ammon and Ryan, have been charged for the standoff.
The uprising at Bundy's ranch grew out of a dispute in which federal agents confiscated Bundy's cattle over his refusal to pay fees required for grazing his livestock on government land. The standoff became a flashpoint in long-simmering tensions over federal ownership of vast tracts of public lands in the West.
Burleson came to Nevada on April 11, 2014, carrying weapons and with two other men, to take part in the standoff, court documents revealed.
He was found guilty in April on multiple felony counts, including threatening and assaulting federal officers, obstruction of justice, and traveling across state lines to commit extortion.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas said she believed Burleson and other armed men used "scare and bullying tactics."
Navarro reduced by five years Burleson's maximum 73-year sentence because he has become blind and was once an informant for the FBI.
Burleson "impeded, intimidated, interfered with, assaulted, and extorted federal law enforcement officers," Navarro read from the bench.
