A man helped to kill at least 118 eagles as part of a wildlife trafficking ring, court documents show.
Travis John Branson made between $180,000 (£136,750) and $360,000 (£273,500) between 2009 and 2021 by selling the feathers and body parts of bald and golden eagles on the black market, prosecutors for the US Attorney’s Office in Montana have said.
Warning: This article contains an image of parts of a dead eagle which some people might find upsetting
Branson, from Cusick, Washington, is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal court on 18 September for his role in the trafficking ring, which operated on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana and elsewhere.
“It was not uncommon for Branson to take upwards of nine eagles at a time,” prosecutors said.
“Not only did Branson kill eagles, but he hacked them into pieces to sell for future profits.”
Branson pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy, wildlife trafficking and two counts of trafficking federally protected bald and golden eagles, and faced a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 (£189,930) fine.
But under a plea deal, prosecutors said they would seek to dismiss additional trafficking charges. They added federal guidelines call for a sentence of roughly three to four years in prison for Branson.
Prosecutors also asked Judge Dana Christensen to sentence Branson to “significant imprisonment” and restitution totalling $777,250 (£590,500), which includes $5,000 for every dead eagle and $1,750 for each of the 107 hawks that investigators said he and his co-conspirators killed.
As many as 3,600 birds were killed, prosecutors alleged, citing a co-defendant Simon Paul who remains at large.
They added investigators documented the minimum number of eagles and hawks killed through Branson’s text messages and said two years of his messages were not recovered so the “full scope of Branson’s killings is not captured”.
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Branson’s lawyer claimed the number of birds killed had been overstated by prosecutors and had fuelled public outcry over the case.
US law prohibits anyone without a permit from killing, wounding or disturbing eagles, or taking their nests or eggs. Bald and golden eagles are also sacred to many Native Americans.
A recent US government study found illegal shootings are a leading cause of golden eagle deaths.
