2 admit they killed eagles, sold parts

YAKIMA, Wash., July 13 (UPI) -- Two Washington state men pleaded guilty to killing bald and golden eagles and selling their parts in violation of federal law, U.S. prosecutors said.

Alfred L. Hawk Jr. and William R. Wahsise, both 23-year-old Yakama tribe members from White Swan, Wash., could face prison terms and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines when they're sentenced in October, federal prosecutors said.

Tribal members with permits are allowed to have eagle feathers, which some Native Americans view as sacred and use in dances and tribal ceremonies, but not kill eagles or buy or sell their parts.

In March 2009, after two years' investigation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents raided the two men's homes, prosecutors said. Agents seized 21 golden eagle tails, 30 golden eagle wings, 31 bald eagle tails and two bald eagle wings from Hawk's home and a handful of golden eagle tails, 22 golden eagle wings and feathers from golden eagles and bald eagles at Wahsise's home.

Hawk pleaded guilty to three felony charges and one misdemeanor, Wahsise to one felony and one misdemeanor.

Hawk and Wahsise used corpses of captured wild horses as bait to attract the bald and golden eagles they killed, prosecutors said.

"The indiscriminate slaughter of these protected birds is alarming," James A. McDevitt, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in a statement. "The black market sale of eagle parts must be stopped at its source."