Robert Garner Gambill, Bald Eagle Killing, North Carolina 2024

A federal judge has ordered Robert Garner Gambill, 91, of Sparta, N.C., to pay a $9,500 fine for killing a bald eagle in violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (the Act).

The Court further ordered that a portion of the fine be paid to two witnesses in the case who provided information that led to Gambill’s conviction, as required under provisions of the Act.

According to information contained in plea documents and presented at the sentencing hearing, on June 5, 2024, Gambill set his firearm on a fencepost, and aimed, shot, and killed a bald eagle that was perched in a tree near the Farmers Fish Camp Road Bridge in Sparta.

Gambill killed the federally protected bird with a Ruger M77 Mark 2 22-250 rifle with an attached Nikon Monarch MR31 4×16-42 scope. After killing the bald eagle, Gambill left the scene in his vehicle, abandoning the eagle carcass on the bank of the New River.

The carcass was recovered with the assistance of two individuals who witnessed the incident and was subsequently taken into the custody of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A necropsy performed by a USFWS forensic laboratory identified injuries suffered by the bald eagle that were consistent with a gunshot wound from a high-powered rifle.

On October 11, 2024, Gambill pleaded guilty to the unlawful taking of a bald eagle.

In 1940 Congress enacted the Eagle Protection Act, predecessor to today’s Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), to protect the bald eagle from extinction. The BGEPA makes it a crime against the United States to hunt, take, capture, kill, possess, and to otherwise deal with the bald or golden eagle, or any part, nest or egg thereof, except as authorized by a valid permit issued by the U.S. Secretary of Interior.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence J. Cameron commended the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the investigation of the case and thanked the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office for their substantial assistance with the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Armstrong of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

For immediate assistance with fishing or hunting violations, please contact the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission or local law enforcement. If you have information about any other wildlife crime, please follow the link https://www.fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips, or call 1-844-397-8477.

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