The leader of a Utah anti-government militia group accused of trying to detonate an explosive two years ago at a remote Bureau of Land Management cabin pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to one count of attempted destruction of federal property by use of an explosive.
William Keebler — who commanded the Patriots Defense Force, also known as Patriots of America, a Tooele County citizen militia whose members allegedly talked about killing Muslims — is scheduled to be sentenced July 9.
The plea deal calls for U.S. District Judge David Sam to impose a punishment of 12 to 70 months in a federal prison.
Outside of court Thursday, assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Choate called Keebler a “would-be terrorist” and said law enforcement had averted a significant “domestic terrorism threat.” The prosecutor said he will argue for a 70-month sentence.
Keebler took part in the 2014 armed standoff between federal law enforcement and southeastern Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, and the Utah man’s participation later led to the infiltration of his Tooele County militia by undercover FBI agents. Keebler also worked as volunteer security for the family of LaVoy Finicum, who was killed by law enforcement on Jan. 26, 2016, at a roadblock in Oregon amid a 41-day standoff at a wildlife refuge.
Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Bill Keebler, seen here in a 2011 file photo, has been charged with trying to blow up a BLM facility in Arizona.
Keebler, 59, of Stockton, initially was charged with attempted damage to federal property by means of fire or explosive, as well as carrying or possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. Those two counts were dismissed in exchange for his plea to the attempted destruction charge in a new federal information.
According to charging documents, Keebler asked a militia member — who was actually an undercover FBI agent — to build an explosive device that could disable a BLM vehicle or damage a building.
The agent allegedly showed a video to Keebler of a pipe bomb explosion and offered to build a similar device for him. Keelber asked for two devices: one to blow up the unoccupied BLM cabin in protest of perceived federal government overreach and another in case they encountered law enforcement afterward, charging documents say.
The documents say an inert explosive device was placed against the door of an unoccupied cabin at an Arizona Strip BLM facility late on June 21, 2016. Then Keebler was handed a remote detonation device, which he pushed multiple times, according to the documents. However, there was no real explosion because the bomb was a phony.
A defense attorney alleged at an earlier hearing that the undercover agents proposed the explosive types, drove Keebler to the location, placed the bomb, handed Keebler the remove trigger and instructed him to press the button three times.
In his plea agreement, Keebler admits he attempted to detonate an explosive at a federal facility.
Keebler allegedly was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a .45-caliber handgun at the time, and as part of the plea deal, the firearms will be forfeited to the government. He has been in jail since his arrest at a gas station in Nephi the day after the bombing attempt at the cabin, which is just across the Utah line in the Mount Trumbull area of northern Arizona.
Before that attempt, Keebler allegedly led his Utah militia — which was composed of about eight members, including two undercover FBI agents and an informant — as the group scouted possible targets in 2016 that included BLM and FBI offices and a mosque in Salt Lake County.
Charging documents say Keebler made it clear “he didn’t plan on blowing people up for now, but he wanted his group to be prepared to escalate things, and take people out if necessary.”
And at a July 2016 court hearing, Special Agent Steve Daniels, a member of the local FBI counterterrorism squad who led the investigation of the militia, testified that Keebler in recorded conversations “talked about Muslims and killing them.”
Choate said Thursday that about 20 people were moved out of the Mount Trumbull cabins before the attempted bombing. The prosecutor added that Keebler was committed to making sure he bombed an unoccupied building so prosecutors don’t know if he would have carried out his plan if the cabin had been occupied.
