{"id":883,"date":"2024-01-15T01:35:32","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T01:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=883"},"modified":"2024-01-15T02:17:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T02:17:16","slug":"criminal-justice_detail_1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=883","title":{"rendered":"CRIMINAL JUSTICE_DETAIL_1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">CRIMINAL JUSTICE<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\"><strong>DECEMBER 19, 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Men Kill 3,600 Birds, Including Bald Eagles, for \u201cSignificant Sums of Cash\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Simon Paul and Travis Branson face up to 11 years in prison and fines of $275,000 each.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MICHAEL SAINATO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"990\" height=\"556\" src=\"http:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2023-12-18-23-bald-eagle.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-482\" style=\"width:760px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2023-12-18-23-bald-eagle.webp 990w, https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2023-12-18-23-bald-eagle-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2023-12-18-23-bald-eagle-768x431.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Scott Serio\/Zuma<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Two men in the<\/strong>&nbsp;US have been charged with illegally killing about 3,600 birds over the course of several years and selling the parts and feathers on the black market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A grand jury in Montana&nbsp;indicted&nbsp;Simon Paul and Travis Branson on charges of conspiracy, violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and illegal trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two men allegedly killed the birds from January 2015 to March 2021, on or around the Flathead Indian Reservation in western&nbsp;Montana, according to federal prosecutors. The indictment alleges that the two men made \u201csignificant sums of cash\u201d from selling the birds and their feathers, but did not specify how much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Court records show the pair sold at least one pair of bald eagle wings, four golden eagle tails, and one whole golden eagle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If convicted on all charges, Paul, 42, and Branson, 48, face up to 11 years in prison and fines of $275,000 each. They are scheduled to appear in court in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Court records allege Branson would travel to Montana from out of state, where Paul acted as a \u201cshooter\u201d and \u201cshipper\u201d in the scheme. One tactic the pair used to lure eagles included using a previously killed deer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe defendants then illegally sold the eagles on the black market for significant sums of cash across the United States and elsewhere,\u201d prosecutors said in&nbsp;court records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act is a federal law&nbsp;enacted&nbsp;in 1940 that prohibits anyone from \u201ctaking\u201d bald or golden eagles, including their parts, without a permit issued by the Secretary of the Interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bald eagle is hailed as a success story of the US Endangered Species Act. The bird, which has been the national symbol of the US since 1782, saw population numbers plummet in the 1960s and 70s due to the effects of the pesticide DDT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After DDT was banned and the bald eagle was listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, the bald eagle recovered to the point where it was&nbsp;removed&nbsp;from the list in 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Men Kill 3,600 Birds, Including Bald Eagles, for \u201cSignificant Sums of Cash\u201d Two men in the&nbsp;US have been charged with illegally killing about 3,600 birds over the course of several years and selling the parts and feathers on the black market. A grand jury in Montana&nbsp;indicted&nbsp;Simon Paul and Travis Branson on charges of conspiracy,&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/?page_id=883\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">CRIMINAL JUSTICE_DETAIL_1<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":477,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"on","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=883"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":915,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/883\/revisions\/915"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiecasia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}