Man who killed eagles on Native American reservation gets nearly four years in prison

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) – A Washington state man accused of leading a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation that killed thousands of eagles and hawks to sell on the black market was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison.

The human trafficking industry operated and exploited the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana for many years big question among tribal members for feathers and other bird parts used in powwows and sacred ceremonies.

The defendant and others killed a total of at least 118 eagles, 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds, prosecutors said.

Young golden eagles were particularly targeted because their black and white feathers are highly sought after by Native Americans, officials said.

The poaching has been focused on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, which researchers say is home to some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other birds of prey in the US. Members of the trafficking ring would release carcasses of elk, calves and deer, then shoot eagles that came to feed on them, officials said.

They also opportunistically shot hawks from utility poles and other perches.

Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in March on charges of conspiracy and wildlife trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula said during his sentencing hearing that Branson’s bird killing was calculated, extensive and carried out with full knowledge that he was breaking the law.

“If you hadn’t been caught, you would still be doing it today,” the judge said. Christensen ordered Branson to pay $777,250 in restitution: $5,000 for each eagle killed and $1,750 for each hawk.

The sentence was at the high end of federal sentencing guidelines.

Before he was sentenced, Branson apologized to the court and his family.

“It’s my own fault,” he said. “I know what I did was wrong.”

In text messages obtained by investigators and presented at the sentencing hearing, Branson wrote about killing birds since the 1980s.

“So much I can’t remember LOL,” Branson said in one text.

Other texts described how eagles were shot in Nevada and Idaho and how dozens of birds were shot in one weekend.

“This is just a small glimpse into the massacres that took place,” Special Agent Mona Iannelli of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said during the hearing.

A second defendant in the case told authorities that the smuggling ring had been active since 2009, killing 300 to 400 birds a year.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office have said others were also involved.

But Branson was described at Thursday’s hearing as the organizer of the human trafficking, instructing others where and when to shoot birds and then arranging the sale of their feathers and parts.

“His disrespect for the sanctity of these protected birds was driven by one thing: greed,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said after the hearing.

Laslovich added that those who bought the feathers were partly responsible for the murders. The prosecutor said he wanted to alert buyers that their conduct is a federal crime.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a “significant” prison sentence and order Branson to pay restitution.

He faced a prison sentence of up to five years on conspiracy charges. His public defender asked for probation, claiming prosecutors overestimated 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.

Christensen rejected the arguments.

Branson had no prior criminal history, according to Nelson. He grew up on the Flathead Reservation, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes.

Because of the criminal charges, he lost his job as a maintenance supervisor for the Kalispel Tribe of Washington and suffered a stroke in April, Nelson said.

The large numbers of birds killed in this case underline the persistence of one 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.

Mike Dolson, chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said the loss of so many birds of prey from the Flathead Reservation will be felt for years to come. Eagles are important to the reservation’s ecosystem as well as to the cultural and spiritual practices of tribal members, he said.

“We hope this helps put an end to illegal poaching in our homeland,” Dolson said.

Bald eagles, once highly endangered by the pesticide DDT, have returned in recent decades and they are now plentiful. The recovery of golden eagles has been thinner and researchers have warned that the population is on the brink of decline due to shootings, poisoningselectrocutions 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.

Christensen allowed Branson to remain free until he reported to prison. The suspect made an obscene gesture to reporters as he left the courthouse without commenting further.

He waived his right to appeal Thursday’s sentence under a plea deal that included the dismissal of additional charges.

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.