Texas man sentenced in connection to illegal eagle hunting on Flathead Indian Reservation

MISSOULA, Mont. – A 71-year-old Texas man was sentenced to 5 years of probation and $77,500 in fines after he pleaded guilty to trafficking bald and golden eagles from the Flathead Indian Reservation.

The Montana U.S. Attorney’s Office said the man was a buyer on the black market asking for the killing of specific types of eagles. It said texts recovered during its investigation showed the man texting questions like “Did u ever see any crispy ones yet?”

The messages were sent to a co-defendant in the case, who the Attorney’s Office said hunted and killed around 3,600 birds and eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere. 

“The killing of eagles is fueled by individuals willing to purchase the eagles on the black market. [The defendant] was one of those purchasers and he requested the killing of specific types of eagles,” the Attorney’s Office wrote in its release about the sentencing.

The Attorney’s Office said the defendant used PayPal and other forms of online payment to pay the illegal hunters. Postal records and text messages also contained details about the defendant's transactions to buy” eagles, hawks, and their parts,” the office said.

The office said the man pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of conspiracy, two counts of unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles, and one count of purchasing eagles and eagle parts that had been killed illegally.

“The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was enacted in 1940 to protect the bald eagle, recognizing that the bald eagle is not merely a bird of biological interest, but this country’s national symbol, which reflects America’s ideals of freedom,” the Attorney’s Office wrote. 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife conducted the investigation.