Oregon standoff ringleader Ammon Bundy made a jailhouse recording to convince the last holdout in an armed takeover of a wildlife refuge to surrender Thursday.
"Please come out of there and let us work this out," Bundy told David Fry in the audio message, which was provided exclusively to NBC News by Bundy's attorney.
The attorney, Mike Arnold, said the FBI played the recording for Fry, who was the last of the occupiers taken into custody, ending a six-week protest at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge over land rights and personal liberties.
During a radio interview before his surrender, Fry threatened suicide. "I'm not coming out of here alive," the 27-year-old said at one point.
In his message, Bundy sought to reassure Fry that while the occupiers are in legal hot water, the situation is not hopeless.
"I want you to know there is a future out here," Bundy said from his cell in the Multnomah County Jail in Portland.
"You’ve been valiant in your stand for your country and for your rights and your actions here really matter," he continued.
"We are going to get this thing straightened out ... You need to be part of this even though it might be difficult for you for a few weeks."
Twenty-five people have been indicted on federal charges for taking over the remote bird sanctuary. Those charged include Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan, the sons of activist Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.
The elder Bundy was arrested Wednesday night in Portland after flying from Las Vegas to see his sons and charged with a range of crimes stemming from a 2014 armed standoff near his ranch in 2014.
