A man from Sparta admits to killing a white-tailed eagle

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Robert Garner Gambill, 91, of Sparta, N.C., appeared in federal court in Charlotte on Friday, Oct. 11, and pleaded guilty to killing a bald eagle in violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, announced Dena J. King , U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Douglas Ault, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Region Office of Law Enforcement Services (USFWS), joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to documents filed in the indictments and today’s court proceedings, on June 5, Gambill, without permission, placed a firearm on a fence post and then aimed, shot and killed a bald eagle that was perched in a tree near the Farmers Fish Camp road bridge in Sparta. Gambill killed the federally protected bird using a Ruger M77 Mark 2 22-250 rifle with an attached Nikon Monarch MR31 4×16-42 scope. As Gambill admitted in court today, after killing the bald eagle, Gambill left the scene in his vehicle, abandoning the eagle’s carcass on the bank of the New River. The bodies were found with the help of two people who witnessed the incident, and then transferred to the custody of the USFWS. An autopsy performed by the USFWS forensic laboratory revealed injuries sustained by the bald eagle consistent with a gunshot wound from a high-powered rifle.

In 1940, Congress passed the Eagle Protection Act, the predecessor to today’s Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), to protect the bald eagle from extinction. BGEPA makes it a crime against the United States to hunt, capture, capture, kill, possess, or otherwise deal with a bald or golden eagle, or any part thereof, nest, or egg, unless authorized under a valid permit issued by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Gambill pleaded guilty to illegally taking a bald eagle, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the crime. Gambill also agreed to pay a $9,500 fine. Gambill was released on bail. No sentencing date has been set.

In making the announcement Friday, U.S. Attorney King praised the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for investigating the case and thanked North Carolina Wildlife Resources

Commission and the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office for their vital assistance in this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Armstrong of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

For immediate assistance with fishing or hunting violations, contact the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission or local law enforcement. If you have information about other wildlife crimes, please click the link https://www.fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips or call 1-844-397-8477. Please do not leave reports asking for help for injured animals/birds. Learn more about what to do with injured or orphaned wildlife here.

• Statement from the US Department of Justice