BILLINGS, Mont.
— A Washington state man who authorities said killed at least 118 eagles as part of a wildlife trafficking ring that operated on a Native American reservation in Montana was sentenced Thursday to three years and 10 months in prison and to pay more than $777,000 in restitution.
Travis John Branson of Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and wildlife trafficking charges. Branson faced up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge. But his public defender asked for a sentence of probation and claimed that prosecutors overstated the number of birds killed.
The criminal 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. Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 from 2009 to 2021 selling bald and golden eagle parts illegally, court records said.
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