Co-chair of Trump veterans' group pleads guilty in 2014 Bundy standoff

Gerald DeLemus, co-chair of the Trump for President Veteran’s
Coalition, is accused of helping organize the infamous armed
standoff with the government

Sam Levin in San Francisco
Wednesday 17 August 2016 20.05 BST

A co-chair of a veterans’ group with Donald Trump’s campaign will plead guilty to federal charges for his role in Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s infamous 2014 armed standoff with the government, the first defendant in the conspiracy case to strike a deal before trial.

Gerald DeLemus, a New Hampshire activist who stepped up as a co-chair of the Trump for President Veteran’s Coalition last summer, is accused of being a “mid-level leader and organizer” in the conflict at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville where rightwing activists faced off with federal officials in a dispute about grazing rights on public lands.

Federal judge Gloria Navarro said she had received a “signed plea agreement” from DeLemus in a court filing on Tuesday, and the 61-year-old is scheduled for an official plea hearing on 23 August.

DeLemus, who is known as Jerry, is the first of 19 defendants in the 2014 standoff case to sign a plea deal, and other jailed activists could follow suit in advance of a jury trial scheduled to begin in 2017.

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