WA man to plead responsible in ‘killing spree’ of over 3,000 birds

• Travis Branson, a resident of Cusick, Washington, reportedly intends to plead responsible to serving to kill over 3,000 birds and illegally promoting their feathers.
• Branson and others killed about 3,600 birds, together with eagles, over a six-year timespan starting in 2015.
• Simon Paul, a second suspect within the scheme described as a “shooter” and “shipper” who operated on Branson’s behalf, stays at giant.

A Washington state man accused of serving to kill greater than 3,000 birds — together with eagles on a Montana Indian reservation — then illegally promoting their feathers intends to plead responsible to unlawful wildlife trafficking and different prison expenses, court docket paperwork present.

Federal prosecutors say Travis John Branson and others killed about 3,600 birds throughout a yearslong “killing spree” on the Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere. Feathers from eagles and different birds are extremely prized amongst many Native American tribes to be used in sacred ceremonies and through pow-wows.

Branson of Cusick, Washington, will plead responsible below an settlement with prosecutors to diminished expenses together with conspiracy, wildlife trafficking and two counts of illegal trafficking of eagles, in accordance with court docket paperwork. Court docket filings don’t element what number of birds he’ll admit to killing.

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A second suspect, Simon Paul of St. Ignatius, Montana, stays at giant after an arrest warrant was issued when he failed to indicate up for an preliminary court docket look in early January. Paul couldn’t be reached for remark Tuesday and his lawyer, Dwight Schulte, declined remark.

The defendants allegedly offered eagle components on a black market that has been a long-running drawback for U.S. wildlife officers. Unlawful shootings are a number one reason behind golden eagle deaths, in accordance with a current authorities examine.

An grownup golden eagle circles overhead in a distant space of Field Elder County, Utah, Might 20, 2021. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret Information by way of AP, File)

Immature golden eagle feathers are particularly valued amongst tribes, and a tail set from one of many birds can promote for a number of hundred {dollars} apiece, in accordance with particulars disclosed throughout a separate trafficking case in South Dakota final yr during which a Montana man was sentenced to a few years in jail.

A grand jury in December indicted the 2 males on 15 prison expenses. They labored with others — who have not been named by authorities — to hunt and kill the birds and on at the very least one event used a lifeless deer to lure in an eagle that was killed, in accordance with the indictment.

Federal officers haven’t mentioned what number of eagles had been killed nor what different kinds of birds had been concerned within the scheme, which they are saying started in 2015 and continued till 2021. The indictment included particulars on solely 13 eagles and eagle components that had been allegedly trafficked by the defendants.

Branson, who was launched from custody following a Jan. 8 court docket look, didn’t instantly reply to a message left at a publicly listed cellphone quantity for him. His lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Andrew Nelson, declined to touch upon the plea settlement.

Textual content messages obtained by investigators confirmed Branson and others telling consumers he was “on a killing spree” to gather extra eagle tail feathers for future gross sales, in accordance with the indictment. Prosecutors described Paul as a “shooter” and “shipper” of eagles for Branson.

Bald eagles are the nationwide image of the USA, and each bald and golden eagles are broadly thought-about sacred by American Indians. U.S. legislation prohibits anybody and not using a allow from killing, wounding or disturbing eagles or taking any components comparable to nests or eggs. Even taking feathers discovered within the wild could be a crime.

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Federally acknowledged tribes can apply for permits with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a bald or golden eagle for non secular functions, and enrolled tribal members can apply for eagle feathers and different components from the Nationwide Eagle Repository. However there’s a prolonged backlog of requests that eagle researchers say is driving the black marketplace for eagle components.