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Stock image of a bald eagle in a tree. Photo: Metro Services, Saga Communications

SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Lummi Nation man has pleaded guilty to federal charges for killing endangered birds.

39-year-old Joel Ridley was arrested by Lummi Nation Police in February 2025 after officers responded to reports of gunshots and found him with a dead bald eagle in his SUV.

Police also captured another eagle that had been shot from a tree.

Despite surviving the shot, the second eagle was euthanized due to the nature of the injury.

Ridley pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday, Oct. 1, to two violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and illegal possession of a firearm, since a previous court order barred him from owning guns.

His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2027, when he faces up to 17 years in prison and $450,000 in fines

Ridley was also sentenced in Whatcom County Superior Court in July to three years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material.

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