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Portland, Ore. • A Manti man who briefly served as Ammon Bundy's bodyguard during the armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge pleaded guilty Thursday in Portland.
Wesley Kjar, 32, admitted to U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown that he took part in a conspiracy to prevent Interior Department employees from doing their jobs at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in sparsely populated Eastern Oregon.
Though he described the action as an "armed political protest against federal power," a charge of firearms possession in a federal facility was dismissed in a plea agreement with government prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said the government will recommend a sentence of six months home detention when Kjar receives his punishment Oct. 28. Kjar relinquished his claim to firearms and ammunition seized by authorities.
Kjar is the fifth member of the occupation to plead guilty in the case.