On October 12, 2016, Ryan Payne submitted to the Court a Motion to Withdraw his Plea Agreement. This was filed over two weeks before the Jury verdict (October 27, 2016), finding the defendants "Not Guilty" of the charges that included Payne in the original Indictment.
Payne pled guilty, in a Plea Agreement, on July 19, 2016. In the hearing on the Plea Agreement, when asked how he pled, he stated, "In pursuing that effort [the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge], I understand I -- I have come to understand that folks who were -- who work for the Government, that that Constitution ordained, perceived my actions as threatening or intimidating. And, thereby, I -- I understand myself to have been guilty of the charge that I'm charged with."
