The man who killed eagles and traded their parts will be sentenced Thursday

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A Washington state man who pleaded guilty to murder at least 118 eagles as part of one wildlife trafficking ring that operated on a Native American reservation in Montana, will be sentenced before a federal judge on Thursday.

The smuggling gang sold eagle feathers and parts at a black market that exploits high demand among tribe members who use them at powwows and other ceremonies.

The years-long poaching operation focused on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The defendant and others killed a total of at least 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds, prosecutors said.

Travis John Branson from Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in March on conspiracy and wildlife trafficking charges. A second person has been charged in the case, and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office have said others were also involved.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula to impose a “significant” prison sentence and order restitution of more than $750,000. They are demanding $5,000 for each eagle killed and $1,750 for each hawk.

Branson faces up to five years in prison on conspiracy charges.

His public defender asked for his client to be placed on probation.

Defense attorneys say prosecutors exaggerated the number of birds killed.

Federal Defender Andrew Nelson also disputed the restitution amount, saying it was too high for the eagles and that the hawks should not be included.

Branson has no prior criminal history, according to Nelson. The criminal charges caused him to lose his job as a maintenance supervisor for the Kalispell Tribe in Washington, Nelson said, and the suspect suffered a stroke in April.

The criminal case underlines the persistence of a flourishing illegal trade in eagle feathers, despite law enforcement efforts over the past decade that have yielded dozens of criminal charges in the Western and Midwestern United States.

Bald eagles, once highly endangered by the pesticide DDT, have rebounded in recent decades and the species is now thriving. The golden eagles’ recovery has been more difficult and researchers have warned that the population is on the brink of decline due to shootings, poisonings, electrocutions on power lines, collisions with wind turbines and other threats.

It is illegal to buy or sell eagle feathers or other parts. The government has tried to offset the strong demand for feathers among Indians by offering them for free from a government warehouse. But they can’t keep up with demand and the repository is years behind.

Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 by illegally selling bald and golden eagle parts between 2009 and 2021, according to court records.

Court documents quote Branson saying in a January 2021 text that he went on a “killing spree” to obtain eagle tails.

“It was not unusual for Branson to take more than nine eagles at a time,” prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana wrote in a court filing. “Branson not only killed eagles, but he chopped them up to sell for future profits.”

The second defendant, Simon Paul, of St. Ignatius, Montana, remains at large. A federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Paul in December after he failed to appear at an initial hearing. Court documents show he fled to Canada.

Federally recognized tribes can apply to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for permits to take a bald eagle or golden eagle for religious purposes. Registered tribe members can request feathers and other bird parts from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-governmental warehouses in Oklahoma and Arizona.