BILLINGS, Mont. – 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 trafficking ring operated for years on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwest Montana, exploiting high demand among tribal members for feathers and other bird parts that are used in powwows and sacred ceremonies.
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The defendant and others killed at least 118 eagles, 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds overall, prosecutors said.
Juvenile golden eagles in particular were targeted because their black and white feathers are highly desired among Native Americans, officials said.
The poaching operation centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana, which researchers say has some of the highest concentrations of eagles and other birds of prey in the U.S. Members of the trafficking ring would set out carcasses of elk, calves and deer, and then shoot eagles that came to feed on them, officials said.
They would also shoot hawks opportunistically off of power poles and other perches.
Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in March to charges of conspiracy and wildlife trafficking.
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula said during his sentencing hearing that the killing of birds by Branson was calculated, extensive and carried out with full knowledge that he was breaking the law.
“If you had not been caught you’d 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 upper end of federal sentencing guidelines.
Prior to being 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 of killing birds since the 1980s.
“So many I can’t remember anymore LOL,” Branson said in one text.
Other texts described eagles being shot in Nevada and Idaho and instances of dozens of birds being shot on a single weekend.
“This is just a small glimpse of the killing that was happening,” U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Mona Iannelli said during the hearing.
A second defendant in the case told authorities that the trafficking ring had been operating since 2009, killing 300 to 400 birds annually.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office have said others were also involved.
But Branson was described during Thursday’s hearing as the organizer of the trafficking ring — instructing others on where and when to shoot birds, and then arranging for the sale of their feathers and parts.
“His lack of respect for the sanctity of these protected birds was driven by only one thing: greed,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said following the hearing.
Laslovich added that those who purchased the feathers shared responsibility for the killings. The prosecutor said he wanted to put buyers on notice 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 up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge. His public defender asked for a sentence of probation and claimed that prosecutors overstated the number of birds killed.
Federal Defender Andrew Nelson also disputed the restitution amount, saying it was too high for the eagles and the hawks should not be counted.
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 in Washington and suffered a stroke in April, Nelson said.
The large numbers of birds killed in the case underscores the persistence of a thriving illegal trade in eagle feathers despite law enforcement efforts over the past decade that netted dozens of criminal indictments across the U.S. West and Midwest.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairman Mike Dolson 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 and also the cultural and spiritual practices of tribal members, he said.
“We hope this helps put a stop to illegal poaching on our homelands,” Dolson said.
Bald eagles, once highly imperiled by the pesticide DDT, have bounced back in recent decades and are now abundant. The recovery of golden eagles has been more tenuous 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’s illegal to buy or sell eagle feathers or other parts. The government has sought to offset strong demand for feathers among Native Americans by providing them for free from a government repository. But they’re unable to keep up with demand and the repository has a yearslong backlog.
Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 from 2009 to 2021 selling bald and golden eagle parts illegally, court records said.
Christensen allowed Branson to remain out of custody until he reports for prison. The defendant 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 show up for an initial court hearing. Court documents have suggested he fled to Canada.
Federally recognized tribes can apply for permits with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a bald or golden eagle for religious purposes. Enrolled tribal members can apply for feathers and other bird parts from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-government repositories in Oklahoma and Arizona.