
"Guilty Plea: US Man's Eagle Killing Spree for Black Market Sales"
Travis John Branson pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to illegally hunt and sell bald and golden eagles, facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His co-defendant, Simon Paul, is still on the run. The men routinely met on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana to hunt eagles, selling their parts for significant sums of cash. The killing of bald eagles, a national symbol, was seen as particularly flagrant, and it remains unclear how many of the 3,600 birds killed were eagles.













