Son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy gets prison for probation violations

(Reuters) - An adult son of the Nevada rancher who was at the center of an armed standoff with federal agents last year in a dispute over cattle grazing rights has been sentenced to two to eight years in prison for probation violations, a court spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Cliven Lance Bundy, 35, son of rancher Cliven Bundy, appeared in Clark County District Court to face sentencing for missing a required drug treatment program and parole violations stemming from two 2013 felony convictions for burglary and theft of a weapon, the official said. Bundy was sentenced to five years of probation last year after pleading guilty to the felony charges. Judge Carolyn Ellsworth sentenced Bundy on Wednesday to two to eight years in prison for missing required court dates and other conditions of his parole, and returned him to state custody, the court spokeswoman said. The Bundy family ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, some 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Las Vegas, was the site of an armed protest against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management last April. The stand-off gained nationwide attention as the agency sought to seize cattle because the elder Bundy refused to pay grazing fees. The federal agents ultimately backed down, citing safety concerns, and gave back hundreds of Bundy cattle which they had rounded up. The elder Bundy has said that his son became addicted to painkillers several years ago after a doctor prescribed them following a pelvic injury. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)