10/10/2008

United States Attorney Jim M. Greenlee announced today that Joshua Lee Garrison of Dundee, Mississippi, pled guilty in federal court in Oxford to killing a bald eagle on November 11, 2007 in Tunica County, Mississippi, in violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Violation of the Act carries with it maximum possible penalties for a first offense of one year in prison and a $100,000.00 fine.

Following his plea of guilty, Garrison was sentenced to six months of house arrest, a $2500.00 fine, two years of probation, and revocation of his hunting and fishing privileges for two years. Garrison will be required to pass a hunter education course before being eligible to obtain a hunting license following the expiration of the two-year ban. Additionally, Garrison was ordered to forfeit the firearm used to kill the eagle, a Remington .270 caliber rifle.

The case was investigated by agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.