Washington man pleads responsible for eagle ‘killing spree,’ faces jail time, fines

A Washington state man accused of serving to kill 1000’s of birds pleaded responsible in federal courtroom on Wednesday to capturing eagles on an American Indian reservation in Montana and promoting their feathers and physique components on the black market.

Travis John Branson pleaded responsible to conspiracy, wildlife trafficking and two counts of trafficking federally protected bald and golden eagles, beneath a plea deal reached final month with authorities attorneys.

The prosecution over eagles killed on the Flathead Indian Reservation underscores the persistence of a thriving unlawful commerce in eagle feathers regardless of a regulation enforcement crackdown within the 2010s that netted dozens of prison indictments throughout the U.S. West and Midwest. Feathers and different components of eagles are extensively utilized by Native People in ceremonies and through powwows.

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Court docket paperwork quote Branson saying in a January 2021 textual content that he was occurring a “killing spree” to acquire eagle tails. Branson and a second defendant, Simon Paul, killed roughly 3,600 birds, together with eagles on the Flathead reservation and elsewhere, in keeping with a December indictment.

Federal authorities haven’t disclosed how most of these birds had been killed, nor the place else the killings occurred, and the problem was not mentioned throughout Wednesday’s listening to.

Branson, of Cusick, Washington, bought an unidentified purchaser two units of golden eagle tail feathers — extremely prized amongst many Native American tribes — for $650 in March 2021, in keeping with prosecutors.

Lower than two weeks later, regulation enforcement stopped him on the reservation and located in his car the ft and feathers of a golden eagle he had shot close to Polson, Montana, which is on the reservation in keeping with courtroom filings that included a photograph of the hen’s severed ft with their huge talons. The hen’s carcass had been “cleaned” by the second defendant, Paul, and was present in a close-by area, prosecutors wrote.

A number of telephones seized by authorities throughout the cease yielded pictures and textual content messages that described “the capturing, killing and supreme promoting of bald and golden eagles all through the US,” prosecutors mentioned.

Branson acknowledged in response to questions from Justice of the Peace Decide Kathleen DeSoto that he “conspired to take and promote migratory birds,” which is unlawful beneath federal regulation. He additionally mentioned he he grew up together with his co-defendant and was initially from the Polson space.

DeSoto scheduled sentencing for July 31 earlier than U.S. District Decide Dana Christensen.

Branson was not taken into custody pending his sentencing and he made no public feedback after the listening to. His lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Andrew Nelson, declined remark.

The plea deal additionally requires Branson to pay restitution for damages. An quantity has not been set however tribal officers hope a few of that cash involves the Flathead reservation, house to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

“My hope is that we are able to see a few of these monies as a result of our assets had been broken,” mentioned Wealthy Janssen, Pure Sources Division Head for the tribes. “And admittedly, it was our wardens that did quite a lot of the legwork that introduced this case ahead to the federal companies that lastly received the prosecution.”

Paul, of St. Ignatius, Montana, stays at giant. A federal choose issued an arrest warrant for Paul in December when he didn’t present up for an preliminary courtroom listening to.

The indictment described Branson and Paul trafficking golden and bald eagles or their components on at the very least 11 events between December 2020 and the cease of Branson by regulation enforcement on March 13, 2021.

Court docket filings counsel the criminality went on for much longer. They define a conspiracy that started in 2015 and concerned different individuals who killed eagles on the Flathead Reservation however haven’t been publicly recognized.

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In a 2016 textual content message quoted by prosecutors, Branson appeared to acknowledge that transport eagles internationally was unlawful, including, “I simply get em for 99 cents…worth of a bullet.”

In one other textual content alternate, Branson was negotiating an eagle feather sale when he allegedly wrote, “I don’t get em without spending a dime although….out hear (sic) committing felonies,” in keeping with the courtroom filings.

He faces as much as 5 years in jail and a $250,000 superb at sentencing on essentially the most critical cost, conspiracy. Underneath the plea deal, attorneys for the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Montana mentioned they might search to dismiss further trafficking costs and would advocate a sentencing guideline discount that would reduce the severity of Branson’s punishment.

The prison case comes virtually a decade after the launch of a multi-state U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trafficking investigation — dubbed “Operation Dakota Flyer” — that led to costs towards 35 defendants and the restoration of greater than 150 eagles, 100 hawks and owls and 20 species of different protected birds seized or purchased by authorities in undercover purchases, in keeping with federal officers.

Federally acknowledged tribes can apply for permits with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a bald or golden eagle for spiritual functions, and enrolled tribal members can apply for feathers and different hen components from the Nationwide Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-government repositories in Oklahoma and Phoenix. There’s a yearslong backlog of requests on the Nationwide Repository and researchers say the excessive demand is fueling the black marketplace for eagle components.