Crime

Los Osos militiaman ordered back to Oregon to face federal conspiracy charge

Neil Sigurd Wampler (center, green coat), 68, of Los Osos was among the militia members taking part in the armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon. According to court records and authorities, Wampler was convicted of murder in Lake County in 1977. Here, he listens as leader Ammon Bundy speaks at a morning press conference near the gate to the refuge Jan. 14.
Neil Sigurd Wampler (center, green coat), 68, of Los Osos was among the militia members taking part in the armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon. According to court records and authorities, Wampler was convicted of murder in Lake County in 1977. Here, he listens as leader Ammon Bundy speaks at a morning press conference near the gate to the refuge Jan. 14. Thomas Boyd The Oregonian

The Los Osos man who participated in the armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in Burns, Ore., was denied bail Friday and will now be taken back to Oregon to face a federal conspiracy charge.

Neil Sigurd Wampler, 68, was arrested at his Los Osos home Wednesday by FBI agents after he returned from the armed protest at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and was among seven participants named in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.

In a bond hearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday, a judge ordered that Wampler remain in custody without bail based on his flight risk and danger to the community, said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Hardin, who represented the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the hearing.

Hardin said Wampler will be immediately transported into the custody of officials in Portland, Ore., where his prosecution will resume. The date of his court hearing hadn’t been scheduled Friday afternoon.

A former woodworker, Wampler went to the refuge shortly after the protest began in early January and served as camp cook. The armed group, which was protesting federal authority over public lands in the West and the arson convictions of father and son ranchers outside Burns, threatened to defend themselves against law enforcement attempts to remove them from the refuge.

Wampler is prohibited for life from possessing firearms after being convicted in 1977 of murdering his father.

If convicted on the conspiracy charge, Wampler faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, according to U.S. Government Code.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Los Osos militiaman ordered back to Oregon to face federal conspiracy charge."

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