Press Release
☷Southern Oregon Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting Bureau of Land Management Employee with a Deadly Weapon
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
Apr 28,2022
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Southern Oregon Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting Bureau of Land Management Employee with a Deadly Weapon MEDFORD , Ore . —A southern Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison today for assaulting a Bureau of Land Management ( BLM ) employee with a deadly weapon while the employee was taking photos of a campsite the man occupied on BLM property in Josephine County , Oregon . Scott Dye , 56 , was sentenced to time served and three years’ supervised release . Dye was in custody from the time of his arrest in June 2020 until his release after pleading guilty in December 2021 . According to court documents , on May 31 , 2020 , Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies and emergency personnel responded to an overturned school bus located on BLM property . Dye was identified as the driver and owner of the bus . On June 6 , 2020 , a BLM officer contacted Dye and told him he had 14 days to vacate the bus property . From June 6 , 2020 through June 16 , 2020 , Dye enlisted the aid of both BLM officers and civilians on multiple occasions to move his overturned bus . Throughout this time , Dye explained to witnesses that he was being harassed and intimidated by local civilians who did not want him there . On June 15 , 2020 , multiple individuals threw rocks at Dye and told him that he needed to leave . Dye told a BLM employee he was being harassed and expressed his desire to remove the bus from the crash site and vacate the area as soon as possible . On the morning of June 17 , 2020 , a BLM employee was travelling in a government vehicle on official business and stopped near Dye’s encampment to take some photos . After taking two photos , the employee heard the rear driver side window of his vehicle shatter . Realizing he was being shot at , the employee opened his driver door and entered the vehicle . As soon as he shut the door , a second round struck the steering wheel of the vehicle sending shrapnel into the employee’s hand . The employee also sustained minor abrasions on his ear from flying glass . The employee quickly departed the scene and called 911 . Less than an hour after the shooting , Josephine County sheriff deputies and BLM officers observed Dye walking on a BLM road near the encampment and detained him . Dye told the officers he owned the bus and was returning from a walk . When asked if he possessed any guns in the camp , Dye declined . Dye was eventually driven to and released in Merlin , Oregon and instructed not to the return to the bus . He was arrested again later the same day by BLM officers . On the same day as the shooting , FBI and BLM agents executed a federal search warrant on the bus and surrounding camp site . They found a . 223 caliber shell casing on the ground near the bus and an empty black rifle case and . 223 magazine inside the bus near Dye’s sleeping pad . From the rear of the bus where the spent shell casing was found , agents observed a direct line of site to the location where the BLM employee’s vehicle was struck by gunfire earlier that day . A ballistics analysis later conducted by the FBI concluded that three shots were fired at an upward trajectory from Dye’s bus toward the BLM employee and his vehicleOn June 18 , 2020 , Dye was charged by federal criminal complaint with assaulting a federal officer , camping longer than permitted on public lands , and disposing of garbage on public lands . Later , on July 20 , 2021 , a federal grand jury in Medford returned a three - count indictment charging Dye with assaulting a federal officer; attempting to murder a federal officer; and using , carrying , and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence . On December 10 , 2021 , Dye pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer . U . S . Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement . This case was investigated by BLM and FBI with assistance from the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office . Assistant U . S . Attorneys Marco Boccato , Adam Delph , and Amy Potter prosecuted the case . Photo of Dye ' s campsite and overturned bus Photo of the BLM truck Photo of shattered window of BLM vehicle Photo showing bullet damage to steering wheel
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