Fed judge gives DeLemus 15 months more than prosecutors urged
Harrison Thorp 7:14 a.m.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Rochester man who pleaded guilty to being a midlevel leader at the 2014 Cliven Bundy standoff in Nevada was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years and three months in federal prison. Federal prosecutors had asked for Jerry DeLemus to receive a six-year prison term, after he pleaded guilty last August, Susan DeLemus, his wife, told The Lebanon Voice earlier this month. Former Republican State chairman Jack Kimball, who has been a tireless supporter and organizer for DeLemus, took to Facebook to condemn the ruling. "I am telling all of you that this decision cannot and will not stand. We must turn our outrage into action ASAP!," Kimball said. DeLemus, an active Tea Party organizer in Rochester and a co-chair of the Trump for President effort in New Hampshire early in 2016, also visited the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon during an anti-government standoff there, but was never charged in that incident. Susan DeLemus said she may appeal the sentence. Earlier this month DeLemus' lawyer filed a motion urging Navarro to reconsider refusing Deemus' request to change his plea deal to not guilty, but no reconsideration was forthcoming DeLemus, who initially pleaded guilty, had sought to change his plea after several defendants in the Malheur standoff were acquitted. Just as in the Oregon standoff, DeLemus, a Marine veteran, has long said he went to Nevada to defuse the situation, not escalate it. Susan DeLemus expressed concern earlier this month that Navarro had wide latitude in her sentencing authority, but still expressed "shock" on Wednesday that it was so harsh. Susan and Jerry DeLemus' 13th wedding anniversary was Monday, making the whole sentencing ordeal even tougher, she told The Lebanon Voice.
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