Member of Tulalip Tribes pleads guilty for role in Oregon standoff

Friday, June 10, 2016  

Eric Lee Flores, a 22-year-old member of the Tulalip Tribes, pleaded guilty for his role in the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

Flores pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States. He could be sentenced to up to six years in prison but federal prosecutors have agreed to conditions that could see him serve six months in home detention.

Flores is the youngest of the 25 people charged for their roles in the 41-day occupation and is the second to plead guilty in the large and complex case. Authorities said he traveled back and forth between the refuge and the Tulalip Reservation in Washington in early January, when the armed occupation began.

"I thought I was doing the right thing,'' Flores said at his plea hearing on Thursday, The Oregonian reported. "I thought it was public land.''

The land in and around the refuge was initially created as a 1.78 million-acre reservation for the Burns Paiute Tribe in 1872. But the federal government forced the tribe's ancestors off the land and forced them to march to reservations in Washington following the Bannock War in 1878.

Some tribal members eventually returned to Oregon but found themselves as outcasts in their own homeland. A land claim was later settled by the Indian Claims Commission for just pennies on the dollar.

The tribe now resides on a much-smaller reservation of about 800 acres. Its members own more than 11,000 acres of allotments.

The armed standoff, which was led by members of the anti-government Bundy family and resulted in one death, ended in February after 41 days. Some of the remaining defendants are accused of damaging cultural sites and archaeological sites at the refuge.

Get the Story:
Second Oregon standoff defendant pleads guilty to federal conspiracy charge (The Oregonian 6/9)
Refuge occupier Eric Lee Flores pleads guilty to conspiracy (AP 6/9)
Second Oregon Standoff Defendant Pleads Guilty (Portland Patch 6/9)

Secretary Jewell meets with Burns Paiute Tribe and visits refuge (03/22)
Defendants charged for damaging sacred Burns Paiute Tribe site (03/10)
FBI agents failed to disclose shots fired at armed Oregon occupier (03/09)
Young member of Tulalip Tribes indicted for role in Oregon standoff (03/07)
Additional charges expected in armed takeover at wildlife refuge (02/25)
Bundy family members finally charged for 2014 armed standoff (02/18)
Armed occupiers dug road and latrine near tribal sites at refuge (02/17)
Burns Paiute Tribe to help assess damage from armed takeover (02/12)
Armed occupation of wildlife refuge in Oregon ends with arrests (02/11)
Burns Paiute Tribe might seek to reopen judgment for stolen lands (02/08)
Steve Russell: Cowboy legal scholars fail big on federal Indian law (02/02)
Four people remain at refuge in Oregon as FBI defends shooting (01/29)
Leader of armed takeover tells followers to leave federal refuge (1/28)
Steven Newcomb: Federal refuge belongs to Burns Paiute Tribe (1/28)
Siletz Tribe disavows video showing artifacts at refuge in Oregon (1/27)
Steve Russell: Bundys finally ousted from Paiute ancestral lands (1/27)
Leaders of armed takeover at federal refuge arrested after death (1/27)
Burns Paiute Tribe asks DOJ to end occupation of ancestral land (1/26)
Andrew Rosenthal: Armed group pulls stunt with tribal artifacts (1/22)
Jacqueline Keeler: Burns Paiute Tribe concerned about artifacts (1/19)
Cari Carpenter: Sarah Winnemucca sought return of Paiute land (1/18)
Alex Jacobs: White militia sitcom plays out on Indian territory (1/15)
Armed group willing to turn over artifacts to Burns Paiute Tribe (1/15)
Albert Bender: Occupied land still belongs to Burns Paiute Tribe (1/13)
Jacqueline Keeler: Burns Paiute Tribe frustrated by armed group (1/12)
Jim Patterson: Burns Paiute Tribe perseveres despite pressures (1/12)
Steve Russell: Armed 'patriots' at odds with Burns Paiute Tribe (1/11)
Gyasi Ross: Crazy White people have turned into the new Indians (1/8)
Jacqueline Keeler: Paiute ancestors were forced on Trail of Tears (1/8)
Peter d'Errico: Armed White men invade Indian lands in Oregon (1/8)
Federal agencies closed offices in Oregon amid safety concerns (1/8)
House Democrats call for armed group to leave refuge in Oregon (1/7)
Charlotte Rodrique: Land rightfully belongs to Burns Paiute Tribe (1/7)
Burns Paiute Tribe tells armed group to leave ancestral territory (1/7)
Burns Paiute Tribe not happy with armed group on ancestral land (1/6)
Armed group wants more to join protest on ancestral Paiute land (1/5)
Armed group occupies wildlife refuge near reservation in Oregon (1/4)