Man sentenced for trapping bald eagle

FARGO — A Barnesville, Minn., man has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to a year of probation for trapping a bald eagle.

Aaron J. Reiling, 24, was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and to make a community service payment in the amount of $4,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to benefit eagles in North Dakota.

A $25 special assessment was also ordered.

Reiling will lose hunting and trapping privileges during the period of probation.

According to information provided by the U.S. attorney’s office, a North Dakota game warden last December responded to a report that an eagle was caught in “something” east of Hillsboro, N.D..

The warden found an adult bald eagle that had a leg caught in a coil spring trap which was staked to the ground. A deer carcass had been placed within one foot of the trap, a violation of federal law.

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