Man Who Killed Hundreds of Eagles and Hawks Gets Nearly 4 Years in Prison
A Washington man who killed hundreds of eagles and hawks in Montana that he later helped traffic and sell on the black market was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on Thursday, prosecutors said.From 2015 to 2021, the man, Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Wash., traveled to the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana to help kill hundreds of birds in a “killing spree,” the U.S.Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana said.
In addition to his sentence of three years and 10 months in federal prison, Mr.Branson was ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution, prosecutors said.“Branson went on self-described ‘killing sprees’ for thousands of eagles and hawks,” Jesse Laslovich, the U.S.
attorney for the District of Montana, said in a statement.Mr.
Laslovich added that Mr.Branson “butchered” the birds “and sold the parts and feathers for profit on the black market.”Mr.
Branson, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking charges in March, killed at least 118 eagles and 107 hawks himself, according to investigators who traced the killings to Mr.Branson through text messages.
In total, Mr.Branson worked with others to kill about 3,600 birds, prosecutors said.In December, prosecutors indicted Mr.
Branson and a co-conspirator, Simon Paul, who at one point lived in St.Ignatius, Mont.
The two worked together to shoot, traffic and sell hundreds of birds, according to court records.Mr.
Paul was also charged with conspiracy and wildlife trafficking charges in December but was a fugitive as of Thursday, the U.S.attorney’s office said.Court records quoted text messages and cited PayPal transactions that showed that Mr.
Branson had sent photos and received text messages and payment for a golden eagle tail feather set.“Got that thang from Simon,” a buyer texted Mr.Branson, referring to feathers Mr.
Paul had sent.“And the mirror feathers.
Tnks.”In March 2021, law enforcement officers stopped Mr.Branson and recovered from ...