A man from Humble, Texas, U.S., pled guilty to purchasing tails and sets of feathers from illegally killed bald and golden eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
John Patrick Butler, 71, was sentenced May 5 to five years of probation and ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution.
The bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) were killed on and around Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said
Another man, Travis John Branson, was convicted of killing the eagles and sending their body parts to Butler. In October 2024, Branson was sentenced to nearly four years in prison followed by three years of probation, and ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
A co-defendant accused of killing the birds, Simon Paul, is still at large, according to the release
Branson sent the eagle parts to Butler in Texas through the mail. Postal records, along with text messages organizing the sales, lead to Butler’s conviction on conspiracy, unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and purchasing illegally killed eagle parts in violation of the Lacey Act.
Branson openly discussed illegally killing eagles in text messages, “out [here] committing felonies,” he said as he hunted the eagles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office He reportedly killed at least 118 eagles and 107 hawks and made as much as $360,000 doing it.
“We are going to feel the impacts of the Flathead Reservation’s raptor loss for years to come,” said Mike Dolson, chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) in a statement in 2024. “We hope this helps put a stop to illegal poaching on our homelands and gives these birds a chance to recover. Eagles are not only a treasured and important part of the Reservation’s ecosystem, but they also have a profound place in CSKT cultural and spiritual practices.”
Banner image: A bald eagle in Alaska by Andy Morffew via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
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