Hapless Gregory Burleson heeded a militia call to arms in April 2014 and traveled from his Arizona home to a standoff pitting allies of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy against federal law enforcement agents trying to provide security for a court-ordered cattle roundup.

Locked and loaded and itching for action, at times sporting a patriotic three-cornered hat that day, Burleson worked the embankments of Toquop Wash and bragged that he positioned other armed men in a flanking move that left BLM and U.S. Park Service officers at a distinct disadvantage in a potentially deadly skirmish that ended without a shot fired.

But I strongly suspect that’s not the key reason a jury Monday found Burleson guilty on eight of 10 counts stemming from the dustup that has sparked renewed attention on federal public lands issues in the West. After more than two months of evidence and several days of deliberation, jurors failed to convict four of the six defendants described by the prosecution as Bundy’s volunteer gunmen. Idaho resident Todd Engel, who represented himself throughout much of the trial, was convicted of obstruction and traveling in aid of extortion, two of the lesser charges among the 10 counts each of the accused faced in U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro’s courtroom.

There was reason for most of the defense to celebrate even as it prepares for a retrial set for June 26.

It was Burleson’s celebration that helped bury him. He gave an interview to an FBI undercover team posing as a documentary filmmaker that left little doubt about his motivation and state of mind that April 12 day. In a case with so many gray areas, and so much sound and fury but not a single injury reported greater than sunburn, Burleson admitted driving to Nevada with his assault rifle and a malicious purpose.

His capable counsel Terrence Jackson argued that the FBI’s “Longbow Productions” scheme was deceptive, and that his client was plied with beer. Two, to be precise.

But Burleson wasn’t reading from a script when he almost gleefully said he’d come to Nevada to kill “rogue” federal agents.

Not to wave the flag, or help a rancher in distress. Not to interpret the Constitution, or stand up for state’s rights. In short, not for any of the arguments that Bundy and some others have been espousing in recent years. He’d come to fire his semi-automatic assault rifle, a move that could have led to dozens of innocent deaths.

BLM law enforcement worked for several weeks to provide security for contract cowboys participating in a court-ordered roundup of Bundy’s trespassing steers from the rugged federal public land in rural Clark County. Bundy has refused to pay $1 million in overdue grazing fees and assessments in a two-decade battle with federal authorities.

Even jurors stirred by video played in court of BLM officers rough up members of the Bundy family couldn’t say they lacked evidence of Burleson’s state of mind that day. He bragged his way into the penitentiary.

Burleson, who suffers from a seizure disorder, began losing his eyesight in the months following the standoff. Blinded by his hate of those federal officers then, today he is physically blind.

The conspiracy case was clearly withering for jurors, who were asked to weigh evidence against six defendants facing 60 total charges and separate forfeiture questions -- no mean feat. They couldn’t be blamed for being confused.

Expect the retrial to be substantially streamlined, but either way prosecution, defense, and Judge Navarro are in for a long, tense summer.

Given the jury’s reluctance to convict the six men of conspiracy, even going so far as to fail to consider photographs of prone defendants Eric Parker and O. Scott Drexler aiming their weapons at BLM uniforms insufficient proof of the charge of threatening a federal officer, you might be left to wonder how Engel managed to be convicted of two felonies. There were no such dramatic pictures of him.

But there was a video clip shot the morning after the standoff in which a pumped Engel briefly recapped the use-of-force to gain a victory over the government in the name of cattle and Constitution. It was as close to a state-of-mind admission as you’re likely to see in a courtroom.

Even jurors reluctant to convict would have to admit that.

John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On twitter: @jlnevadasmith

Feature photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers gather outside Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse Monday, April 24, 2017 during the jury's verdict in the Bundy Ranch standoff. Photo by Jeff Scheid.