A man who killed eagles and traded their parts faces sentencing on Thursday.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Washington state man who pleaded guilty to killing at least 118 eagles as part of a wildlife trafficking ring that operated on a Montana Indian reservation faces sentencing in front of a federal judge on Thursday.

A group of traders sold eagle feathers and parts on the black market, which is in high demand among tribal members who use them in powwows and other ceremonies.

The decades-long poaching operation was centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The defendant and others killed at least 107 hawks and about 3,600 birds, prosecutors said.

Travis John Branson of Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and wildlife trafficking charges. A second person has been charged in the case, and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office said others were involved in the case.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula to impose a “substantial” prison term and seek more than $750,000 in restitution. They are demanding $5,000 for each eagle killed and $1,750 for each hawk.

Branson faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge.

His public defender asked that his client be sentenced to probation.

The lawyer said prosecutors exaggerated the number of birds killed.

Federal Defender Andrew Nelson also disputed the restitution amount, saying it was too high for eagles and should not count hawks.

Branson has no prior criminal history, Nelson said. Because of the criminal charges, Nelson said he lost his job as a maintenance supervisor for the Kalispell Tribe in Washington, and the defendant suffered a stroke in April.

The criminal case highlights the continued thriving illegal trade in eagle feathers, despite law enforcement efforts over the past decade that have resulted in dozens of criminal charges in the Western and Midwestern United States.

Bald eagles, once threatened by the pesticide DDT, have recovered in recent decades and the species is now thriving. Golden eagles’ recovery has been weaker, and researchers warn the population is on the verge of decline due to shootings, poisonings, electrocutions on power lines, collisions with wind turbines and other threats.

Buying or selling eagle feathers or other parts is prohibited by law. The government sought to offset the high demand for feathers among Native Americans by providing them free of charge from the government repository. But they can’t keep up with demand, and the repository has a years-long backlog.

Court records say Branson made between $180,000 and $360,000 from 2009 to 2021 by illegally selling bald eagle and golden eagle parts.

Court documents quote Branson as saying in a January 2021 post that he was going to “kill” to get the eagle tails.

“It was not unusual for Branson to capture more than nine eagles at one time,” prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana wrote in a court document. “Branson not only killed the eagles, but also cut them into pieces to sell for future profit.”

The second defendant, Simon Paul of St. Ignatius, Montana, remains at large. In December, a federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Paul after he failed to appear at his first court hearing. Court documents indicate he fled to Canada.

Federally recognized tribes can apply to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a permit to use a bald eagle or golden eagle for religious purposes. Enrolled tribal members can apply to receive feathers and other bird parts from the National Eagle Repository in Colorado and non-governmental repositories in Oklahoma and Arizona.