U.S. | Thu Oct 20, 2016 | 6:07am EDT

Jury to begin deliberations in conspiracy trial of Oregon militants

By Scott Bransford | PORTLAND, ORE.

A federal court jury was set to begin deliberations on Thursday in the trial of six men and a woman charged with conspiracy for their roles in the armed takeover of a U.S. Wildlife center in Oregon earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown in Portland instructed members of the 12-member panel late on Wednesday on how to apply the law to facts in the case, capping two days of closing arguments by prosecutors and defense lawyers.

The summations in turn followed weeks of testimony from witnesses, some of whom took part in the 41-day siege at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote eastern Oregon that began in early January.

The militants' leader, Ammon Bundy, and six followers are charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers through intimidation, threats or force, as well as with possession of firearms in a federal facility and theft of government property.

Each faces up to six years in prison if convicted of conspiracy alone.

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