Travis Branson, convicted and ordered to pay restitution for killing eagles and selling their feathers, walks out of the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse in Missoula in October 2024 with his jacket over his head. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
A Washington man who shot and sold eagles for “the price of a bullet” and bragged about his “murder spree” was sentenced Thursday to 46 months in prison for his role in leading a human trafficking scheme on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Travis John Branson, 49, who may have killed at least 3,600 birds over 12 years, was also ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution for the eagles and hawks the U.S. government could prove he killed via text message. messages and other evidence.
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At the Montana U.S. District Court in Missoula, Branson apologized to his family and told them he loved them. He thanked “everyone who put their time into this.”
“I know what I did was wrong,” Branson said.
However, in his text messages, which a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special investigator read in court, Branson was full of boasts about the shootings, which he said he had committed since the 1980s.
“Hear (sic) commit crimes,” he said in a text message read out in court.
He used powerful optics, including expensive telescopes, and he killed birds at night, according to evidence given in court.
“I hit one of those babies bad in the wing and it flew away and when he lands he’s going to crash lol bad bad ugly,” said part of a text message from Branson that was read in court.
Another said: “I was nailing them with night vision in the south…lol.”
In March, Branson pleaded guilty to conspiracy, two counts of unlawful trafficking in bald and golden eagles and violation of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the interstate sale of poached wildlife. He will report himself to prison and will be on supervised release for three years after his prison term.
In handing down the sentence, federal Judge Dana Christensen said he was “deeply concerned” by Branson’s criminal conduct that led to the deaths of golden eagles, bald eagles, immature birds and hawks.
“I think if you hadn’t been caught, you would still be doing it today,” Christensen said.
The judge said the crimes were calculated. Branson knew he was violating federal law, as evidenced by his text messages, and yet he continued to set bait, build blinds, direct others and shoot birds, Christensen said.
The judge said Branson did this for the money: “You acted out of greed again and again.”
From 2009 to 2021, Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 by selling eagle feathers and parts for a profit on the black market, the government estimates.
The restitution amount ordered by the judge is $5,000 for each of the 118 eagles killed and $1,750 for each of the 107 hawks killed. That’s the number of birds the U.S. government was able to prove Branson killed between 2015 and 2021, the six-year period for which he was charged.
(Determining market value for black market birds is difficult, the judge said. A 2017 study estimated essentially double the amounts awarded in the judgment, but the amounts ordered are consistent with an affidavit filed in another federal case was used and the values pursued by the government.)
However, an alleged conspirator estimated that Branson’s crew killed 300 to 400 birds a year and had done so for at least twelve years, according to the special agent’s testimony.
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On the witness stand, Special Agent Mona Iannelli said Branson was the coordinator of the murders and sales. She said others working with him would send Branson photos and he would communicate with buyers.
In some cases, she said, Branson asked for their help in finding other buyers, and in others, he warned them of more killings ahead — “we’re going to be hitting hard” in the coming days, he said in a text message she read . .
She said the crew was particularly interested in immature golden eagles, whose feathers are black and white and are “highly sought after” by many buyers.
In one case, she explained a photo taken on a surveillance camera showing Branson sitting in the passenger seat of a truck with a firearm pointed forward. She said the brightness of the photo indicates Branson was driving slowly to a nearby bait location.
She said that after eagles eat a carcass or eat too much, they often sit on a carcass because they are full, and she believes Branson was waiting to shoot an eagle that would feed and then rest on a large snagged tree nearby.
Iannelli, who explained to the court the process investigators used to trace the 118 eagles and 107 hawks directly to Branson, also said these numbers appear to represent a fraction of the actual killings, which occurred in and outside Montana: “I believe that this is just a small glimpse of the murder that took place.”
After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said that eagles are not only birds of biological importance but also a national symbol of freedom and liberty, and that laws have been passed to protect bald and golden eagles.
“By ignoring these laws, Travis Branson and others hunted and slaughtered thousands of eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation for more than three decades, then sold them on the black market in the United States and elsewhere,” Laslovich said.
Even after he knew authorities were on him, Branson continued to kill and “butcher” the birds to sell their feathers, he said.
Laslovich said Branson was brazen in the conspiracy, which was unraveled through cooperation between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Fish and Game Department of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Montana.
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However, Laslovich said the most offensive thing to him in this case is “how numb (Branson) was when he killed these protected species.”
“He thought this was funny, but he’s not laughing today, and neither are we,” Laslovich said. “He was enthusiastic and even giddy about killing these protective groups, which makes his behavior all the more unscrupulous and grotesque.”
Laslovich said many people joined forces to resurrect the bald eagle when it was on the brink of extinction, culminating in the passage of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and he said he is proud to to contribute to the success story.
However, Laslovich also said the case cannot bring back the birds Branson killed.
“But we can and will hold those who do this accountable, just as we did with Mr. Branson today,” Laslovich said.
Co-suspect in the case Simon Paul has also been charged in the conspiracy. The government said he is still on the run.
In a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, CSKT Chairman Mike Dolson said the Flathead Indian Reservation will feel the impact of the loss of the birds of prey that Branson killed for years.
“We hope this helps put an end to illegal poaching in our homelands and gives these birds a chance to recover,” Dolson said. “Eagles are not only a valuable and important part of the sanctuary’s ecosystem, but they also have a profound place in CSKT’s cultural and spiritual practices.”
Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. If you have any questions, please contact editor Darrell Ehrlick: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.
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