United States v. Douglas Crooked Arm

Following conviction and sentencing upon Defendants-Appellants Douglas “Vance” Crooked Arm’s and Kenneth Shane’s (collectively Defendants) conditional guilty pleas in this case, Defendants appeal the district court’s denial of their pretrial Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Failure to State a Felony Claim. We consider the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate Defendants’ sentences, and remand.

I

A grand jury indicted Defendants on multiple counts of, among other things, knowingly and willfully conspiring to kill, transport, offer for sale, and sell migratory birds, including bald and golden eagles, in violation of the MBTA, 16 U.S.C. §§ 703 (a) and 707(b) (Count I) and unlawfully trafficking in migratory bird parts, in violation of 16 U.S.C. §§ 703 (a), 707(b) (Counts II-IV). Defendants admitted selling a fan made of eagle feathers to undercover agents of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) and, after the district court denied Defendants’ motion to dismiss the indictment, entered a conditional guilty plea on Counts I and II.

’ On appeal, as at the district court,…