03/20/09
 
U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Karin J. Immergut, announced that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Reginald Dale Akeen, also known as J.J. Lonelodge, 33, of Anadarko, Oklahoma, with violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act, and with conspiracy to violate those laws. Akeen was arrested in New Mexico, and is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2009, to answer to these charges.
 
The indictment alleges that in August and September 2007, Akeen and a co-conspirator in Warm Springs, Oregon, sold a fan made from nine juvenile golden eagle feathers for $1,750 in cash and bartered items. Golden eagles are one of the species of birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
 
United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut said, "We take our responsibility to enforce federal wildlife protection laws very seriously. To conserve our eagle populations here in Oregon and across the country, we must stop the illegal commercial exploitation of these birds."
 
The maximum penalties for each of the charges include up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  The indictment announced today is the result of an ongoing investigation by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service into the illegal killing of bald and golden eagles and other protected birds and the sale of their feathers and parts. The Fish and Wildlife Service is conducting the investigation with the help and cooperation of state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie F. Beckerman.
 
An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.