Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged 66-year-old Benjamin G. Allen of Brush Prairie with violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and unlawfully killing a migratory bird following an investigation that began after a dead eagle was found on Feb. 5, 2026.
- Investigators and a veterinary exam reported two shotgun pellets in the eagle’s brain and witness accounts of a gunshot near the property, facts prosecutors cited when filing the misdemeanor counts.
- Allen is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Sept. 8 and faces up to one year in prison and a $500,000 fine for the eagle charge and up to six months and a $5,000 fine for the migratory bird charge.
- Authorities noted Allen kept chickens close to where the eagle was found, a detail that places the case in a recurring conflict between raptors and small-scale poultry owners and may explain why the bird was on the property.
- The charges reflect a pattern of federal enforcement under the 1940 Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, with past prosecutions producing prison sentences and large fines and signaling continued scrutiny of illegal killings of protected birds.