Wildlife trafficking ring killed at the least 118 eagles, prosecutors say

BILLINGS, Mont. — A person helped kill at the least 118 eagles to promote their feathers and physique elements on the black market as a part of a long-running wildlife trafficking ring within the western U.S. that authorities allege killed thousands of birds, courtroom filings present.

Travis John Branson is scheduled to be sentenced in federal courtroom on Sept. 18 for his position within the trafficking ring that operated on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana and elsewhere.

Prosecutors say the Cusick, Washington, artificial between $180,000 and $360,000 from 2009 to 2021 promoting bald and golden eagle elements illegally.

“It was not unusual for Branson to take upwards of 9 eagles at a time,” prosecutors with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Montana wrote in a Tuesday courtroom submitting. “Not solely did Branson kill eagles, however he hacked them into items to promote for future income.”

Eagle wings, tails, feathers and different elements are extremely wanted by Native People who use them in ceremonies.

Prosecutors requested Decide Dana Christensen to condemn Branson to “important imprisonment” and restitution totaling $777,250. That features $5,000 for each useless eagle and $1,750 for every of 107 hawks that investigators stated he and his co-conspirators killed.

Branson’s legal professional disputed the prosecutors’ claims and stated they overstated the variety of birds killed. The prosecution’s allegation that as many as 3,600 birds died got here from a co-defendant, Simon Paul, who stays at giant. Branson’s legal professional steered in courtroom filings that the said loss of life toll has fueled public outcry over the case.

“It’s notable that Mr. Paul himself went from a 3,600 to 1,000 fowl estimate,” Federal Defender Andrew Nelson wrote in a Tuesday submitting, referring to an announcement Paul made to authorities in a March 13, 2021, site visitors cease.

Nelson additionally stated restitution for the hawks was not warranted since these killings weren’t included in final yr’s grand jury indictment. He stated Branson had no prior felony historical past and requested for a sentence of probation.

Branson and Paul grew up within the Flathead Reservation space. Since their indictment, Paul has been hiding in Canada to evade justice, based on Nelson.

Paul’s protection legal professional didn’t instantly reply to a phone message in search of remark.

Investigators documented the minimal variety of eagles and hawks killed by way of Branson’s textual content messages, prosecutors stated. Two years of his messages weren’t recovered, main prosecutors to say the “full scope of Branson’s killings isn’t captured.”

Authorities officers haven’t revealed another species of birds killed.

Bald and golden eagles are sacred to many Native People. U.S. regulation prohibits anybody with no allow from killing, wounding or disturbing eagles, or taking their nests or eggs.

Unlawful shootings are a number one explanation for golden eagle deaths, based on a latest government study.

Members of federally acknowledged tribes can get feathers and different fowl elements legally by way of from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-government repositories in Oklahoma and Phoenix. There’s a yearslong backlog of requests on the nationwide repository.

Branson pleaded responsible in March to conspiracy, wildlife trafficking and two counts of trafficking federally protected bald and golden eagles. He confronted a most of 5 years in jail and a $250,000 wonderful on essentially the most critical cost, conspiracy. Underneath a plea deal, prosecutors stated they might search to dismiss further trafficking prices.

Federal pointers name for a sentence of roughly three to 4 years in jail for Branson, they stated.