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Texas Man Admits to Shooting and Killing Bald Eagle in 2024, US Attorney's Office Says
Guerrero faces up to a year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine after investigators matched video of the shooting to his home.
- Santos Guerrero, 42, pleaded guilty Thursday to shooting and killing a protected bald eagle at his Porter, Texas home on October 11, 2024, Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck announced this week.
- Authorities responded to reports of the shooting and reviewed video footage showing the eagle being shot and falling from a tree, then matched the location to Guerrero's residence to locate the injured bird.
- A necropsy determined the bullet caused significant damage to the eagle's wing, liver fractures, internal bleeding, and a fractured leg; the bird was found alive but euthanized at an animal hospital due to injury severity.
- U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray accepted Guerrero's guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for July 30, when he faces up to one year in federal prison and a maximum $100,000 fine.
- Although bald eagles are no longer listed as endangered, they remain strictly protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which prohibits killing, possessing, or transporting the birds without authorization.
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Texas Man Sentenced In Eagle Trafficking Ring That Killed Thousands Of Protected Birds
A Texas man received five years of probation and was ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution after admitting his role in a black-market operation that killed approximately 3,600 bald and golden eagles and other birds on and around Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation. John Patrick Butler, 71, of Texas, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of conspiracy, two counts of unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles, and one count of purchas…
·Dallas, United States
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Total News Sources22
Leaning Left1Leaning Right2Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution77% Center
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
77% Center
C 77%
15%
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