LETCHER, S.D.-A southeast South Dakota man found guilty of killing a bald eagle through poison he injected into cow carcasses has been sentenced to eight months in custody, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Ted Nelson, 69, of Letcher was convicted for unlawful taking of a bald eagle and unlawful use of the pesticide Carbofuran, a poison he injected in cow cascasses to kill predators. The cow carcasses were then eaten by coyotes, and a coyote with poison in its system was eaten by a bald eagle, killing the eagle.
Nelson will serve six months of the eight-month sentence in concurrence with his prior federal tax evasion sentence, and the additional two months will be served immediately after. Nelson will then spend one year under supervised release and pay a $2,500 fine for restitution.
He was also sentenced to 30 days in custody for unlawful use of a pesticide, which will be served concurrently with another sentence.
According to a news release from the Justice Department, Nelson's actions killed area animals, and laboratory results confirmed the eagle died from the ingestion of Carbofuran, also known as Furadan 4F.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The purposeful misapplication of a pesticide like Furadan 4F to kill coyotes and other predators can be devastating to all wildlife up and down the food chain, including eagles," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Prairie Region Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dan Rolince. "This conviction and sentence send a clear message that intentional and unlawful activities that result in the death of federally protected species will not be tolerated."
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks.
In April, Nelson was sentenced to five years in prison, and he and his son, Steven, were ordered to pay $1.84 million for tax fraud. The Nelsons argued they did not have to pay income taxes because God, not the Nelsons, owned their money. The Nelsons' tax evasion scheme began in 2002 when they claimed to be members of a sovereign group that does not recognize U.S. laws.
