Wyola Man Sentenced for Eagle Trafficking

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Wyola man has been sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to illegally trafficking dead eagles.

U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom sentenced 33-year-old Ernie Lemuel Stewart on Wednesday to 12 months and a day in prison and fined him $225.

Prosecutors say Stewart sold five dead eagles to a Fish and Wildlife Service informant through a middle man in February 2010.

Stewart later started dealing directly with the informant. In June 2010, he offered to sell the informant nine eagle tails at $300 apiece and five wing fans at $100 apiece.

Stewart pleaded guilty in February to two counts of unlawfully trafficking in eagles.

In return, prosecutors dropped another charge of trafficking in eagles and a separate count of trafficking in migratory birds.