Source: United States Attorneys General
A grand jury in Seattle returned an indictment today charging a Washington man and his company with conspiracy and for violating the Lacey Act by transporting birds that had been hunted in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).
The indictment alleges that, from August 2022 to January 2023, Branden Trager, 46, of Brush Prairie, Washington, and his guiding company, Mayhem Services LLC, guided three hunting parties in Canada to hunt waterfowl when Trager was not permitted under Canadian law to do so.
According to the indictment, Trager and Mayhem Services took hunters across the U.S.-Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The hunts targeted the harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), a small sea duck with a habitat ranging from Alaska to California. Hunters prize the harlequin as a trophy and as part of a challenge to hunt 41 North American waterfowl species. Washington closed harlequin hunting for the 2022-2023 season, but limited hunting remained open in British Columbia.
The indictment alleges that the hunters paid Trager thousands of dollars to guide them in Canada, and Trager falsely told Canadian and Homeland Security authorities that he was hunting with friends. Trager allegedly conspired with a Canadian taxidermist to have the hunted birds shipped back to the United States in violation of the Lacey Act.
The Lacey Act is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking law. It prohibits, among other things, transporting wildlife that had been illegally taken under federal, state, tribal or foreign law. The MBTA is a U.S. law that implemented treaties with Canada and other nations to ensure sustainable populations of migratory birds. The MBTA imposed regulations on bird hunting, such as limits on the quantity and hunting methods allowed to take migratory birds.
An initial appearance hearing in federal court is scheduled for Jan. 23. The maximum penalty for both the conspiracy and Lacey Act charges is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the economic gain or loss.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) and Deputy Assistant Director Keith Toomey of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)’s Office of Law Enforcement made the announcement.
The USFWS’ Office of Law Enforcement led the investigation along with Homeland Security Investigations, British Columbia Conservation Officer Service and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors and Trial Attorney Sarah Brown of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.