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Cincinnati-area man pleads guilty in armed standoff with feds in Nevada

Posted at 1:32 PM, Oct 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-10 13:32:11-04

LAS VEGAS -- A Cincinnati-area man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge related to an armed standoff with federal workers in Nevada. 

Peter Santilli Jr., 52, used his vehicle to block a convoy of Bureau of Land Management officers and civilian employees who were attempting to remove cattle owned by rancher Cliven Bundy from federal public lands in the Bunkerville area in 2014, authorities announced. 

After Santilli blocked the convoy, others then surrounded the officials and were able to "threaten vehicle occupants by force, violence and fear, inducing the officers ot leave the place where their duties were required to be performed," according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Santilli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer. He faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Last year, Santilli was also arrested in Burns, Oregon, after federal officials said he was part of the armed group who spent more than three weeks occupying a national wildlife refuge. Two of Bundy's sons, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, were also part of that group.

Charges against Santilli in that case were later dismissed. The Oregonian reported Santilli never stayed overnight at the refuge. 

Sentencing for the Nevada case is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2018.