IDAHO
A federal judge sentenced a man to three years probation for killing eagles and ordered him to pay $4,000 in restitution, officials announced Wednesday.
The judge also ordered Adrian Q. Brown-Sonder, 24, of Plummer, Idaho, to forfeit all hunting permits, tags, stamps and licenses during the term of probation, officials said.
Brown-Sonder plead guilty to violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act on Tuesday, officials said.
According to the plea agreement, a confidential informant contacted Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police, who in turn contacted the FBI and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The informant stated that Brown-Sonder killed eagles and other migratory birds.
Several witnesses were interviewed and explained that Brown-Sonder admitted to them that he had killed hawks and eagles.
A search warrant at the defendant’s residence resulted in the discovery of a large number of eagle and hawk feathers, as well as a wide array of bird skulls and feet.
Two bald eagles, two golden eagles, two rough-legged hawks, two red-tailed hawks, and two unspecified dark-morph hawks were identified by a morphology examination.
Brown-Sonder is prohibited from hunting and having possession of dangerous weapons during the term of his probation.
Bald eagle numbers in the U.S. were estimated to be between 300,000-500,000 in the 1700s. Numbers were once as low as 500 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states, according to the Defenders of WildLife.
Defenders of Wildlife state that bald eagle numbers have rebounded since and now the lower 48 states boast over 5,000 nesting pairs. There are a total of about 70,000 bald eagles in the whole of North America, including Alaska and Canada.
The case was investigated by Police, FBI and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
