Facebook photos of Oregon refuge occupiers visiting Bundy ranch irks judge

Facebook photos of Oregon refuge occupiers Jon Ritzheimer and Ryan Payne visiting the Bundy ranch in Nevada during the holiday break without permission have landed both in hot water. A federal pretrial services officer in Oregon spotted the photos posted on Ritzheimer's Facebook page and alerted U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown in Portland just before the new year. The judge, as a result, has moved up Ritzheimer's date to surrender to prison, from Feb. 15 to Jan. 12, and she made it clear that Ritzheimer must have no contact with any named defendant in either the Oregon or Nevada standoff cases before he starts his prison sentence. The judge ordered Payne to return to home detention in Las Vegas. Payne and Ritzheimer both pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy in the 2016 armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon. Ritzheimer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Payne awaits sentencing in Oregon. He faces other federal charges in Nevada with Cliven Bundy and two of Bundy's sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, in the 2014 standoff near the Bundy ranch when officers tried to round up Bundy cattle trespassing on public land after decades of unpaid grazing fees and fines...more