5 people, including American fugitive, charged with poaching Alberta wildlife

A bald eagle named Freedom perches on a branch at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, N.J., Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The provincial government says five people face charges under Alberta’s Wildlife Act and the Criminal Code of Canada in connection with poaching eagles and hawks earlier this year.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services (FWES) say Simon Paul of Montana, Teresa and Eli Snow of Morley, Alta., and James Brittain and Sophia Soriano of Calgary face 34 charges under the act and nine Criminal Code charges.

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The offences stem from evidence collected by police, who allege the group had been actively hunting eagles and hawks in March 2025 near Cochrane, Alta., west of Calgary.

Authorities say they were notified about the offences by a Report-A-Poacher tip about Paul and Eli Snow allegedly shooting the birds.

When police searched trucks and homes owned by the accused, they found freshly removed eagle feet with talons, feathers, blood and other raptor parts as well as unsecured firearms.

Police said Paul was on the run from authorities in the U.S. and the FWES’ undercover unit learned from an informant in August 2024 that he was living with Teresa Snow on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.

He was wanted on multiple charges related to the killing and trafficking of birds of prey in Montana but failed to appear in court.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Paul was a co-defendant in an incident where bald and golden eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation were illegally killed and distributed.

Travis Branson of Cusick, Wash. admitted his role in the crimes, which may have included the deaths of at least 3,600 birds over a 12-year period.

He was later sentenced to 46 months in jail and ordered to pay $777,250 in restitution.

Reports later that year allege Paul “was actively killing eagles on the Stoney Nakoda and Eden Valley First Nations land and selling wildlife products.”

Paul, Snow and Brittain allegedly sold various items to undercover officers.

The merchandise included a bald eagle feather headdress, black bear claw necklaces and a raptor talon dance stick.

The accused face the following charges:

• Hunting wildlife for which there is no open season;
• Unlawful possession and trafficking of wildlife;
• Possession for the purpose of unlawful trafficking;
• Providing false or misleading information to a fish and wildlife officer; and
• Careless transportation and storage of firearms.

The province says, according to Alberta law, Indigenous Peoples with treaty rights or Métis harvesting status can harvest and possess certain wildlife for subsistence purposes for themselves and their immediate families.

However, any wildlife harvested under these rights may not be transferred, traded, bartered, sold or possessed by any individuals outside the immediate family.