DEAL OR NO DEAL: Internet Broadcaster Pete Santilli Says “No” to 6-Year Plea Deal Says Deb Jordan

IMAGE SOURCE: Guerilla Media Network Facebook Page

By CHERI ROBERTS for Challenging the Rhetoric

In an August 4, YouTube live-stream Deborah Jordan, girlfriend, and co-host of jailed internet talk show host Pete Santilli says, “no” deal. Santilli, the host of The Pete Santilli Show, was arrested on January 26, for his participation in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) outside of Burns, Oregon. Santilli alleges he was there as a journalist.

On January 2, after months of planning, Bundy brothers, Ammon and Ryan — along with Ryan Payne and others, took over and then led an armed occupation of the MNWR. The occupation ultimately lasted 41-days, resulting in the shooting death of rancher LaVoy Finicum and the indictment of 26 individuals.

Many are facing what would amount to spending the rest fo their lives in prison, including Santilli. Thus far, 10 of the Oregon Standoff indictees have accepted plea deals. Santilli has not. A trial for Santilli and several others will begin on September 7.

According to Jordan,

“Pete’s got a positive attitude. He said he’d rather spend 20-years in prison than spend 6-years and plead guilty to something he didn’t do. So, he’s very adamant about that. He’s sticking to it. And, he’s gonna take this thing to the jury. He will not be, he will not be taking a plea deal. They’ve offered him, several times. He has said no.”

Now that Jordan has had an opportunity to examine the Government’s recently released exhibit list of evidence against Santilli and the others, she talked about being blown-away saying,

“The closer we get to trial, the more evidence they’re throwing out there. I was looking at the evidence list that they did give. It’s a lot about guns and ammunition, that was on the refuge, so yeh, even I was shocked, about that. I was like wow, that’s a lot of, that’s a lot of guns. Yanno? I mean it is. That’s a lot of ammunition. So, I mean it is what it is. But, I was really surprised. I gotta tell ya. I was like holy cow, man, wow. Yanno? It is kind of breathtaking, right? You look at it and you just geez.”

All the weapons and ammo aside, when it comes to Santilli and any crimes he may be guilty of, Jordan doesn’t see evidence to substantiate any and said,

“A lot of it I wasn’t surprised, pertaining to Pete. These things I already know. Certain yanno, emails, I can tell you, I know what those emails are, for the most part, because yanno, we’re asked to research these things. But, there’s really not anything in them. They want desperately to try to prove that Pete had foreknowledge of the event, of what they were planning to do. And, it’s just not there. He is able to, Pete has been able to, I think, and will, absolutely prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he knew nothing of a takeover of a wildlife refuge, yanno, before it happened. He wasn’t in any meetings.”

Jordan, and by proxy it would seem Santilli as well, are still holding firm that Santilli’s speech is what is on trial. That he is charged for things he’s said, and not actions he took or behaviors he presented in either case. Jordan feels things are being “cherry-picked” to paint the picture the government wants to present and said,

“A lot of this stuff in the evidence. Emails, videos, particular shows they were interested in. Yanno, from the very beginning, you know, it’s just like the ACLU said, this is more about things Pete said, and nothing about what he actually did. So, to keep him from getting a pretrial release, they, you know, they, they cherry-picked. And uh, you know Pete says, he says inflammatory things. It’s part of his schtick. It’s his persona. It’s yanno, it’s just what he does. What he does. So yeh, I think that as far as Pete goes, they’re reaching. Because here’s the deal, yanno, they’re gonna have to prove that all of this evidence they bring forward pins Pete as guilty for impeding federal workers from doing their job. Right? And, so, I think they’re gonna have a tough time. I think they’re gonna have a real tough time … in the evidence that I’ve seen that they’re throwing out there. We’ve done our homework. We’ve worked really hard at this. I think Pete’s gonna fair really, really well.”

She assured Santilli fans that he was not sitting and moping around. According to Jordan, Santilli is spending most of his days going through “thousands” of pages of documents and discovery. She and a handful of others are projecting confidence that Santilli will beat the Oregon charges at the very least.

But, regardless of her outward bravado, it is clear by the occasional catch in her voice that Jordan has her own worries. This is after-all, not what she bought into when she and Santilli started their lives together. Santilli however, is willing to go down in his own ship, at least for now, before he will give an inch to the United States Government.

On the idea of a potential guilty verdict, in either case, Jodan repeated Santilli’s words,

“Listen, even if he’s found guilty? Yanno, it won’t be because he didn’t fight. And again, I want to say this again, Pete said I’d rather spend 20-years in jail working on an appeal than take a 6-year deal and plead guilty to something I didn’t do.

The September 7 trial is set for co-defendants Ammon and Ryan Bundy, Peter Santilli, Shawna Cox,David Fry and Jeff Banta. Another trial, for co-defendants who were granted a continuance, is scheduled for Valentine’s Day 2017. Thus far, 10 of the Oregon co-defendants, including Ryan Payne, have pleaded out. At least three who have already pleaded in Oregon are also under indictment for the April 2014 Bunkerville, Nevada armed confrontation with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Bundy Ranch, along with several others.

SEE: OREGON Indictment

SEE: NEVADA Indictment

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