Texas Man Sentenced for Trafficking Eagles on Flathead Indian Reservation
John Patrick Butler, 71, paid thousands of dollars on the black market for parts of eagles shot in Montana and elsewhere. His co-defendants in the federal case hunted and killed approximately 3,600 birds.
By Maggie Dresser
A 71-year-old Texas man who trafficked bald and golden eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation on Tuesday was sentenced to five years of probation and $77,500 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
John Patrick Butler in December 2025 pleaded guilty 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, in violation of the Lacey Act.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over Butler’s sentencing hearing.
Butler bought the eagles on the black market and requested specific types of birds. He then transferred money through PayPal and other forms of online payment. In return, the co-defendants in the case — Travis John Branson and Simon Paul — sent the eagles, including their parts, through the mail from Montana to Humble, Texas, where Butler resides. Postal records and text messages confirm Butler received the eagles, hawks and their parts.
Between November 2020 and March 2021, Butler paid sums ranging $300 to $900 for eagles shot on and around Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere, including golden eagle tail sets and bald eagle tail sets.
According to court documents, law enforcement uncovered messages from Branson and others that said, “[O]ut [here] committing felonies,” and telling buyers, including Butler, that he was “on a killing spree” to obtain eagle tail feathers for future sales. In October 2024, Judge Christensen sentenced Branson, of Cusick, Wash., and formerly of the Flathead Indian Reservation, to nearly four years in prison followed by three years of probation, and ordered him to pay $777,250 in restitution.
Branson and the other co-defendant, Paul, who remains a fugitive, hunted and killed approximately 3,600 birds, including eagles, which were illegally sold on the black market for significant sums of cash across the United States and elsewhere, records state.
The federal government sought restitution values of $5,000 per eagle and $1,750 per hawk, estimating that, from 2009 until 2021, Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 by selling eagles feathers and parts for profit on the black market. At least 118 eagles and 107 hawks killed were directly traceable to Branson and documented through his own text messages, prosecutors said. Branson had taken up to nine eagles at a time.
“We are going to feel the impacts of the Flathead Reservation’s raptor loss for years to come,” Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Chairman Mike Dolson said in a statement after Branson’s sentencing. “We hope this helps put a stop to illegal poaching on our homelands and gives these birds a chance to recover. Eagles are not only a treasured and important part of the Reservation’s ecosystem, but they also have a profound place in CSKT cultural and spiritual practices.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation.