NATIONAL NEWS – 2 men charged with killing 3,600 birds to sell on black market

Mariah Cain, Staff Writer

Simon Paul and Travis John Branson have been charged with 13 counts of unlawful trafficking of bald eagles and one count of conspiracy and violating wildlife trafficking laws. The pair killed around 3,600 birds including both bald and golden eagles on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation and sold the eagle parts on the black market.

According to the indictment the killings started in January 2015 and ended in 2021. U.S. law prohibits anyone from killing, wounding, or harming eagles without a permit.