NEBRASKA – A 45-year-old man who shot an eagle and hawk was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay $6,500 as restitution, officials announced Tuesday.
Lamar Bertucci, Sr.,of Walthill, Nebraska, violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Bertucci told the judge that the value of an eagle was too high.
On February 10, 2014, officials said residents of Macy, Nebraska, heard gunshots and observed a car in a field where two bald eagles were located.
Fearing that the eagles were being shot, the residents called law enforcement. A tribal game warden was in the area and responded to the scene as the car was exiting the field, according to officials.
A brief chase ensued and Bertucci was arrested after his vehicle developed mechanical problems. A search of the vehicle yielded a dead bald eagle. A trace of the route the car had traveled yielded a rifle and a rough legged hawk which had been recently shot
Bertucci admitted to shooting both the eagle and the hawk, authorities said.
At the time of sentencing, officials said Bertucci objected to the method used by the government to value the bald eagle and the hawk in determining the applicable sentencing guideline range.
U.S. District Judge Lyle E. Strom denied Bertucci’s objections.
The Pre-sentence Investigation Report placed a value of $10,000 per bald eagle and $1,750 per hawk.
After considering Bertucci’s financial circumstances, Judge Strom announced that he was imposing an order of restitution in the amount of $6,500 which consisted of $5,000 for the bald eagle count and $1,500 for the rough legged hawk count.
Bertucci had been charged in March of 2009 with similar violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of bald eagle feathers and was sentenced on October 14, 2009.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.