Men went on ‘killing spree’ of more than 3,000 eagles to sell on black market, feds say
Two men are charged with killing thousands of federally protected eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana and selling them on the black market, federal authorities said.
One of the men then bragged about the “killing spree” and “committing felonies” in messages sent to buyers, charging documents say.
Travis John Branson, a 48-year-old man from Cusick, Washington, was charged with conspiracy and unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles, court documents say. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A court issued a warrant for the arrest of his co-defendant in the case, Simon Paul, after he failed to appear on a summons, federal officials said in a news release. From January 2019 to March 2021, Paul lived near Ronan, a city on the reservation, and acted as a “shooter” and “shipper” of the eagles for Branson, the documents say.
Attorneys for the two men did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment Jan. 9.
The men are accused of plotting to kill the birds on the Flathead Indian Reservation and selling them between January 2015 and March 2021, the court documents say.
Investigators discovered messages from Branson saying he was “(O)ut (here) committing felonies” and telling buyers he was on “a killing spree” to kill the eagles and sell their tail feathers, the release said.
In one case, they lured eagles in using a dead deer and shot a golden eagle, officials said. Paul cleaned it, and then both men loaded the golden eagle parts into a car to transport them, officials said.
They ended up killing about 3,600 birds and selling eagle feathers and parts for “significant sums of cash,” investigators said.
Congress classified the bald eagle as a protected species in 1940, recognizing it as “not only a bird of biological interest but also this country’s national symbol,” the release said. Congress then extended federal protections to the golden eagle in 1962.
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