BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Washington state man who authorities said led a wildlife trafficking ring on a Native American reservation in Montana that killed thousands of eagles and hawks was sentenced Thursday to three years and 10 months in prison, and must pay more than $777,000 in restitution.
The trafficking ring over more than a decade sold eagle feathers and parts on a black market that exploits high demand among tribal members who use them in powwows and sacred ceremonies. The defendant and others killed at least 118 eagles, 107 hawks and as many as 3,600 birds overall, prosecutors said.
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The exterior of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Eagle Repository is seen in Commerce City, Colo., on March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Eagle feathers adorn a headdress during a powwow in Montana, on April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
FILE - An adult golden eagle circles overhead in a remote area of Box Elder County, Utah, May 20, 2021. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)
Man who killed eagles and trafficked their parts faces sentencing Thursday
Man who killed eagles and trafficked their parts faces sentencing Thursday
FILE - This undated photo from a court document provided by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana shows golden eagle feet recovered by law enforcement officers from a Washington state man's vehicle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana via AP, File)
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, authorities said.
They would also shoot hawks opportunistically from 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.
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 such conduct is a federal crime and that it must stop.”
Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a “significant” prison sentence and order Branson to pay restitution of $5,000 for each eagle killed and $1,750 for each hawk.
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, who grew up on the Flathead reservation, had no prior criminal history, according to Nelson. Because of the criminal charges, he lost his job as a maintenance supervisor for the Kalispel Tribe in Washington, Nelson said, and the defendant suffered a stroke in April.
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.
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 under the terms of 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.
The exterior of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Eagle Repository is seen in Commerce City, Colo., on March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Eagle feathers adorn a headdress during a powwow in Montana, on April 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
FILE - An adult golden eagle circles overhead in a remote area of Box Elder County, Utah, May 20, 2021. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)
Man who killed eagles and trafficked their parts faces sentencing Thursday
Man who killed eagles and trafficked their parts faces sentencing Thursday
FILE - This undated photo from a court document provided by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana shows golden eagle feet recovered by law enforcement officers from a Washington state man's vehicle. (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana via AP, File)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed down long sentences to two former police officers for the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco, an icon of Brazil’ s political left whose killing sparked outrage.
Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz were sentenced to almost 79 years and almost 60 years, respectively, for the March 14, 2018 drive-by shooting that killed Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Jurors found that Lessa fired the gun and de Queiroz was the wheelman on the night of the crime.
Lessa and de Queiroz, arrested in 2019, previously signed plea bargains confessing their roles, but the jury had final word on their guilt on homicide and other charges. The verdict, although expected, comes as a measure of solace to the many who saw the martyrdom of the Black, bisexual woman as an attack on democracy, and worried that the crime would go unpunished.
The prosecutors had argued each man should be sentenced to the maximum possible 84 years for the three counts — double homicide, attempted homicide and driving a cloned vehicle.
As Judge Lucia Glioche finished reading the sentence, applause erupted in the room as victims’ families began to cry. Marielle’s sister, Anielle Franco, Brazil’s minister for racial equality, held a long, tearful embrace with her parents and Marielle’s daughter, Luyara Franco. Her father rested his head on the chest of former congressman Marcelo Freixo, who was her political mentor.
Brazilian law does not allow for life imprisonment, and each man will serve no more than 30 years of their sentences. Due to their sealed plea bargains, local media has reported that Queiroz and Lessa may serve 12 and 18 years in prison, respectively, including time already served. Prosecutors have denied their sentenced would be reduced.
Either way, Thursday’s sentencing is seen as only a step toward justice being done, with another trial yet to come for the men accused of ordering her killing. They will also have to pay 706,000 reais ($122,000) in moral damages to several of the victims’ family members and provide an allowance to the young son of Gomes until he turns 24, according to a statement on the court's website.
Known universally by her first name, Marielle, she was raised in one of Rio’s poor communities known as favelas. She became known for her efforts to improve the lives of ordinary residents. Following her election in 2016, she fought against violence targeting women while defending human rights and social programs.
Testimony Wednesday during the first day of the trial offered details about the moments preceding and following the shooting. Franco’s assistant and friend who was also in the car, Fernanda Chaves, was among those giving testimony, as was Franco’s mother and her partner Mônica Benício.
Choked up and often unable to talk, Benício said the last thing Marielle ever said to her was “I love you.”
“We had plans to get married with a wedding party. When Marielle died, what I felt was that they had taken away our promise of the future,” she said, later adding that the right to a just city was one of Marielle’s causes.
“Marielle also defended the right to decent housing from the perspective of the favela, the periphery, this was the theme of the city’s rights agenda.”
Both defendants participated in the trial by videoconference from prison. Lessa is in Sao Paulo while de Queiroz is in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia.
Federal authorities started investigating the case in earnest once leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2023.
With Lessa and de Queiroz sentenced, attention will now turn to the men accused of ordering the hit: two brothers with purported ties to criminal groups known as militias, which illegally charge residents for various services, including protection.
Guilhermo Catramby, a Federal Police detective, told the court Wednesday that the assassination was “undoubtedly” motivated by Marielle’s work regarding land rights, especially in the west side of Rio de Janeiro. Her work there was “a thorn in the side of militia interests,” Catramby said.
In March, Federal Police detained the two brothers, federal lawmaker Chiquinho Brazão and his brother Domingos Brazão, a member of Rio state’s accounts watchdog. They have denied any involvement in the killing or with militias and have yet to go on trial.
In his plea bargain, Lessa told police that the politician brothers hired him and informed him that the then-chief of the state’s civil police, Rivaldo Barbosa, had signed off beforehand. Barbosa, who also denies any involvement, was arrested in March.
Marielle’s family and Ágatha Arnaus, widow of Gomes, spoke to journalists after the trial. Holding hands, they said that while the conviction offered some reparation after years of struggle and pain, it was just the first step in a long journey toward justice.
“I wanted my mother here, but today will certainly go down in this country’s democratic history,” said Luyara, the councilwoman’s daughter, holding back tears.
“If the justice system had not convicted these two cruel murderers, we wouldn’t have a moment of peace. But this doesn’t end here,” said Antonio Francisco da Silva, Marielle’s father. “There are those who ordered the crime. Now the question is: when will those who ordered it be convicted?”
Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.
People attend a rally prior to the trial of former Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco's alleged killers outside the Court of Justice, in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
A woman shouts demanding justice before the start of the trial of councilwoman Marielle Franco’s suspected murderers, outside the Court of Justice, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Former military police officers, shown on screen, from left, Ronnie Lessa and Elcio Queiroz attend via video conference their trial where they are accused of murdering city councilwoman Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes, at the Court of Justice in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
People gather demanding justice before the start of the trial of councilwoman Marielle Franco’s suspected murderers, outside the Court of Justice, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Anielle Franco, left back, and her mother Marinete Silva, center, family members of of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, arrive to the Court of Justice to attend the trial of Franco’s suspected murderers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Mother of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, Marinete Silva, right center, and Luyara Santos, left center, daughter of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, accompanied by other family members, arrive to follow the trial of former city councilwoman Marielle Franco's alleged killers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Monica Benicio, center, widow of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, arrives to the Court of Justice to attend the trial of Franco's suspected murderers, in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
A demonstrator embraces a child while holding a sign with a message that reads in Portuguese: "I want justice for Marielle and Anderson", before the start of the trial of councilwoman Marielle Franco’s suspected murderers, outside the Court of Justice, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Advisor to slain city councilwoman Marielle Franco, Fernanda Goncalves Chaves, pictured on screen, testifies during the trial of Franco's suspected murderers, at the Court of Justice in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
An activist wearing a T-shirt with the image of former city councilwoman Marielle Franco attends a rally prior to the trial for Franco's alleged killers, outside the Court of Justice, in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
