MISSOULA, Montana: As part of a plea deal, Travis John Branson, who was indicted in Montana for hunting and killing the national symbol of the U.S., the bald eagle, has agreed to plead guilty and now faces 12 years in prison.
A plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana, this week showed that Branson, 48, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to kill bald and golden eagles and unlawfully traffic the birds.
He now faces up to 12 years in prison for the counts he has agreed to plead guilty to, and a change of plea hearing has been scheduled for March 20.
The plea agreement did not state whether Branson would assist prosecutors in their case against Simon Paul, 42, who was indicted by a grand jury in December along with Branson, or any other persons involved in their crimes.
Paul did not attend an initial court appearance in January and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He remains at large.
Branson and Simon killed over 3,600 birds, including an unspecified number of protected bald and golden eagles, from January 2015 to March 2021, often on or near the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, federal prosecutors said.
They added that Paul and Branson would hunt the birds on the reservation and elsewhere.
“The defendants then illegally sold the eagles on the black market for significant sums of cash across the U.S. and elsewhere,” the indictment stated.
