JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men who were co-founders of a militia group were convicted of attempting to kill federal agents ahead of a planned trip to shoot at immigrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border illegally and federal agents who might try to stop them.

A jury in U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Missouri, found Jonathan S. O’Dell, 34, of Warshaw, Missouri, and Bryan C. Perry, 39, of Clarksville, Tennessee, guilty of more than 30 felonies. Teresa Moore, the federal attorney for western Missouri, announced Friday that each had filed criminal charges. Thursday’s conviction came after jurors deliberated for more than two hours.

O’Dell’s attorney, Jonathan Truesdale, declined to comment, but Perry’s attorney, Thomas Kirsch, said his client plans to appeal the decision. Kirsch said Perry was disappointed in the verdict but grateful for the jurors’ dedication and the opportunity to exercise his “fundamental right to a trial by jury.”

“My client has a deep love and passion for our country, the values ​​it represents, and the values ​​the Constitution represents, including the right to trial by jury,” Kirsch said.

Sentencing dates for both men have not yet been set. Both face at least 10 years in prison and possibly life in prison.

Perry also pleaded guilty to three charges, including escaping from federal custody. Held in a county jail in Rolla, Missouri, pending trial, he escaped in September 2023 but was captured after a high-speed chase two days later and about 160 miles (258 kilometers) northwest outside Kansas City.

The two men founded the 2nd Amendment Militia and then tried to recruit others to join them in the summer and fall of 2022, prosecutors said. In September 2022, O’Dell’s home, approximately 100 miles away, became a staging area, with two men gathering firearms, ammunition, paramilitary equipment and other supplies, according to the government’s evidence.

Prosecutors said Perry posted a TikTok video in September saying the militia group was “going to go protect this country” and another in early October saying the group was “going to go hunting.” Prosecutors said the two men viewed U.S. Border Patrol agents who allowed immigrants to cross into Texas as traitors.

The day before they planned to travel to Texas, an FBI team using an armored vehicle executed a search warrant at O’Dell’s home, and prosecutors said Perry fired 11 rifle shots at them. O’Dell and his girlfriend surrendered, but Perry fought with agents after leaving the house.

Charges against the two men included use of a firearm in a violent crime, unlawful possession of a weapon and destruction of federal property. Perry couldn’t legally own a gun because he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in Tennessee in 2004 and served nearly four years in prison, according to online records.