Man Sentenced/Trapping Eagle

[Lee Borgersen]

  .....Minnesota Man Sentenced for Trapping Bald Eagle  

 
A Barnesville, Minnesota, man was sentenced today on a charge of Taking and Trapping a Bald Eagle. Aaron Reiling, 24, will serve one year of probation and will have to pay a $1,000 fine and make a community service payment in the amount of $4,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to benefit eagles in North Dakota. Reiling will also lose hunting and trapping privileges in the United States during the period of probation.

In June, Reiling pleaded guilty to the charge.

Last December, a game warden found a bald eagle in a trap near Hillsboro, North Dakota. There was an exposed deer carcass within one foot of the trap.

Reiling admitted that he was trapping without a valid non-resident trapping license. He also trespassed on land he did not have permission to enter, set the trap that caught the bald eagle and placed the dead deer carcass next to the trap.

The charge is a Class A Misdemeanor and carries a maximum term one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.