DeLemus awaits transport to Nevada for next bail hearing

Jerry and Susan DeLemus with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. (Courtesy photo)

The Rochester man indicted in the Cliven Bundy armed standoff with federal agents in Nevada two years ago is headed to a Las Vegas courtroom after a federal judge earlier this week ordered his next detention hearing to be held there.

Jerry DeLemus is still at the Strafford County Jail today, but his transport to Nevada could happen at any time, said Natalie Collins of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Las Vegas on Friday.

DeLemus' defense attorney, Mark Sisti, told The Lebanon Voice on Tuesday that he and his client had hoped to have the next bail hearing here in New Hampshire where DeLemus has substantial support.

But on Wednesday U.S. District Court Judge Andrea Johnstone ruled the hearing should be in Nevada where DeLemus was indicted in the April standoff over grazing rights on federal land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

While the actual standoff occurred on April 12 before DeLemus had arrived at the Bundy Ranch in Bunkersville, Nev., the indictment accuses him of organizing subsequent patrols to keep the feds from seizing Bundy's cattle.

DeLemus, a Tea Party activist and co-chair of the state Veterans for Trump for President group, was named in the March 3 indictment as a midlevel leader and organizer of the conspiracy, who, among other things: recruited, organized, trained and provided logistical support to gunmen and other followers and organized and led armed patrols and security checkpoints from April 12 till the end of May 2014.

A 60-some page indictment specifically charges him with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, threatening a federal law enforcement officer, assault on a federal officer, obstruction of justice, attempting to impede or injure a federal law enforcement officer, interference with interstate commerce by extortion, and several firearms charges, according to court records.

He was arrested on March 3 as several FBI vehicles full of armed agents in full tactical gear with weapons drawn swarmed his Rochester condo.

Then on March 8 he was ordered held without bail, with Johnstone ruling, "The nature of the offenses charged, combined with the weight of the evidence against the defendant and the demonstrated seriousness of danger to persons in the community that would be posed by the defendant's release, weigh against his release."

Two days later a federal judge granted DeLemus and new defense attorney Sisti a second bail hearing, which DeLemus and his supporters had hoped would be in Concord.

DeLemus' transport to Nevada could come at any time, Collins said, but federal agencies were unlikely to release details of the move.

Sisti was not immediately available for comment.

As of today DeLemus was still being held at the Strafford County Jail, a jail employee said.

The date for his next bail hearing in federal court in Las Vegas won't be set until he arrives there, Collins said.

With DeLemus' legal fees beginning to mount, a webpage has been set up where supporters can donate money to help his family, including his wife, Susan DeLemus, a state rep; and her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's and lives with them. Click here to visit the website.

Alternatively, donors can write a check to Sue DeLemus and mail it to 57 Dustin Homestead, Rochester, NH 03867.