Washington Man ONLY gets 4 years for Killing over 100 Eagles

Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
1,090
Branson and others killed approximately 3,600 birds and he's only getting 4 years in prison & has to pay $777,xxx in restitution. I know eagles are plentiful these days but man it seems to me he's getting off light for killing a pile of our National Birds not to mention golden eagles, hawks and others.

A violation of the Bald & Golden Eagle Act can result in a fine of $100,000 ($200,000 for organizations), imprisonment for one year, or both, for a first offense. Penalties increase substantially for additional offenses, and a second violation of this Act is a felony.

 
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
523
Would opinions be different on the punishment if he poached 118 deer or elk and 107 bears and sold parts of them on the black market ?

Of course it would! This is a hunting forum. You are talking about a glorified buzzard. Maybe a bird watchers forum would be more outraged.

Was it wrong, yes. Do wind turbines kill a ton of raptors/birds every year, yep. Does anything happen to those "green" corporations, nope. Let's move on.
 

Pro953

WKR
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
608
Location
California
Interesting, I was actually happy with the sentence. We so often hear about poaching cases with very minor restitution, probation, hunting privilege loss for a couple of years etc.

Four years in prison (likely two years in and two probation) along with a felony wrap sheet will impact him every day for the rest of his life (Which is great).

Not sure what the financial situation is but having 700K in restitution with the likelihood of wage garnishments will certainly suck as well.

Certainly they could hit him harder, but it’s tough to justify when a four year sentence is a pretty common outcome for an involuntary manslaughter/vehicular manslaughter charge.


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Joined
Aug 31, 2022
Messages
59
Location
WY
Interesting, I was actually happy with the sentence. We so often hear about poaching cases with very minor restitution, probation, hunting privilege loss for a couple of years etc.

Four years in prison (likely two years in and two probation) along with a felony wrap sheet will impact him every day for the rest of his life (Which is great).

Not sure what the financial situation is but having 700K in restitution with the likelihood of wage garnishments will certainly suck as well.

Certainly they could hit him harder, but it’s tough to justify when a four year sentence is a pretty common outcome for an involuntary manslaughter/vehicular manslaughter charge.


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My thoughts exactly.
 
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