LOS ANGELES — In the latest twist in a legal saga that's dragged on for nearly six years, a federal judge in Orange County granted bail Tuesday to the accused founder of a violent white supremacist group — but the order will not take effect for at least four days pending a review by a higher court.

During a hearing that lasted more than an hour, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney questioned the government's use of resources on the case before granting bail to Robert Rundo, who spent nearly a year as a fugitive until he was extradited from Romania last year to face conspiracy and rioting charges.

Carney has twice dismissed the government's case against Rundo and other members of a now-defunct white supremacist group known as the Rise Above Movement, or RAM. The judge has stated that Rundo and others were being selectively prosecuted, while "far-left extremist groups" were not.

"I understand international, dangerous people, and with all due respect to Mr. Rundo, he was a knucklehead who was misguided," Carney said on Tuesday. "This is not the felony of the century. I don't have any evidence that anyone was seriously hurt, even Antifa, let alone innocent civilians."

After Carney dismissed charges against Rundo in February, Rundo was released for a short time over objections from prosecutors, who appealed the decision. Rundo was later taken back into custody in San Diego County.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that any future district court decision to release Rundo be automatically stayed for at least four days.

In a written order Tuesday, Carney called the prosecution's conduct in the case "quite troubling" and said the government "just does not seem to care about the Constitution."

"We are prosecuting individuals associated with a militant white-supremacy organization," U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement after the hearing. "As federal prosecutors, we do everything we can to protect our community, and we do so ethically and in conformity with the Constitution."

In court, Asst. U.S. Atty. Solomon Kim described Rundo, dressed in a white jail uniform, as "an international fugitive who has evaded law enforcement systematically and repeatedly over the years." He said Rundo had traveled to at least seven countries, booked more than a dozen flights and assumed different aliases as part of that effort.

In a written opposition to Rundo's request for bail, prosecutors described him as "dangerous and violent," citing a 2010 case where Rundo was sentenced to two years in prison for repeatedly stabbing a person.

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