Two Pablo men face charges in killing eagle, selling parts
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
GREAT FALLS - Two Pablo residents and another man were arraigned in Great Falls Federal District Court Monday, Feb. 6, on charges of capturing and killing an injured golden eagle and selling it to a third man for $100.
Pablo residents Curtis Foster, 58, and Glenn Reum, 57, along with Doug Standing Rock of Box Elder on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation, were released on special conditions after pleading not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong. The three men face charges of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty. All three men could face one year in prison and fines up to $15,000 if found guilty.
According to the affidavit signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley, around Jan. 1, Curtis Foster and Glenn Reum drove from Pablo to Havre, and spotted an injured golden eagle on the side of the road near Lincoln. The two stopped the car and loaded the injured bird into a cooler. The defendants continued on to Havre, where they kept the eagle alive in a bathtub in the Budget Inn Motel for one week.
After discussing what to do with the eagle, Reum attempted to kill the bird by strangling it with a bungee cord. When that proved unsuccessful, Reum finished the act by hitting the eagle in the head with a hammer.
According to the affidavit, Foster took the dead bird and sold it to Doug Standing Rock for $100 soon thereafter. Standing Rock wanted the eagle for ceremonial purposes and told a federal agent he knew it was illegal to buy and sell dead eagles, and that he didn’t have a permit to do so.
Standing Eagle buried the body of the eagle but provided the wings to the agent.
