Yakama Nation couple punished for selling eagle feathers
Friday, April 15, 2011
Filed Under:
Environment
|
Law
Two members of the
Yakama Nation of Washington were sentenced for conspiring to sell bald and golden eagle parts.
Ricky Wahchumwah, 39, and his wife, Victoria Jim, 40, were found guilty by a jury last fall.
During a search of their home, federal authorities found four eagle carcasses with their wings and tail bases removed, at least 60 eagle wings, 37 eagle tail bases, 90 individual eagle feet with talons, over 600 loose wing feathers, 34 complete sets of tail feathers, and three containers of eagle body feathers and eagle plumes.
Wahchumwah will serve one month in jail, three months of home confinement, followed by two years of court supervision. He also will pay a $425 fine.
Jim will serve two weeks in jail, three month home confinement, followed by two years court supervision. She was ordered to pay a $325 penalty.
"The number of eagles lost in these cases is disturbing. Non-Native Americans cannot possess eagle feathers and Native Americans can only acquire eagle feathers lawfully through the National Eagle Repository. No one can hunt or sell eagles," Michael C. Ormsby,
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington said in a
press release.
Get the Story:
Yakama couple sentenced for conspiring to sell eagle parts
(The Yakima Herald-Republic 4/15)
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