Feds Charge Thompson Bros. Realty "Molested" Bald Eagle

Feds Charge Thompson Bros. Realty "Molested" Bald Eagle
By Ed Slavin
Thompson Bros. Realty, Inc. is charged with a felony violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act: "molesting" a bald eagle (cutting down a bald eagle nest tree in St. Augustine).
Federal criminal charges were filed against Thompson Bros. Realty, Inc. by United States Attorney Paul Perez on March 30, 2007 for the alleged October 8, 2001 eagle-molesting. Perez' signed "criminal information" charges Thompson Bros. Realty, Inc. with "acting through its employees and agents" and "knowingly and with wanton disregard for the consequences of its actions take, molest and disturb a bald eagle, without being permitted to do so by law," in violation of 16 U.S.C. 668(a) & 50 C.F.R. 22.3.
Those convicted of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act can be fined, imprisoned (and denied federal grazing permits). But U.S. Attorney Perez has apparently not yet charged any living, breathing individuals, only Thompson Bros. Realty, Inc., a corporation.
Efforts to contact the Thompsons were unavailing.
Efforts to learn more will continue.
It happened in America on October 8, 2001, inside St. Augustine city limits by the SR312 bridge. A bald eagle nest tree was ordered cut down by local businessman Pierre Thompson (land developer/speculator and grandson of the founder of the St. Augustine Record).
The St. Augustine Record's 2001 articles extensively detailed Thompson's actions. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service built a strong case, with neighbors Chris Gilman, her partner, a neighbor and government employees taking photos and providing testimony establishing that Pierre Thompson knew (but denied) there were nesting bald eagles. For four years months, nothing happened. The Collective Press reported in October 2005 that after four years, United States Attorney Paul Perez still hadn't decided whether to charge anyone with any of three federal environmental crimes. CP also reported the five-year statute of limitations would expire in October 2006. Extended by agreement of prosecutors and defense lawyers, the statute of limitations was "no longer a problem," Perez's spokesman Steve Cole told us in December 2006.
Local residents may be heard on sentencing of Thompson Bros. Realty, Inc., which may be asked to provide evidence on other violations and violators as a condition of a guilty plea and sentencing. The Jacksonville U.S. District Court case number is 3:07cr-67-V-32TEM. The case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Morris. For up-to-date information on scheduling and opportunities for public comment on sentencing, concerned citizens may contact Steve Cole, U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa, 813-274-6136 or Honorable Sheryl L. Loesch, U.S. District Court Clerk, 300 North Hogan Street, Suite 9-150, Jacksonville, Florida 32202, tel: 904-549-1900.
The U.S. District Court clerk's website bears a handsome bald eagle on the left; the address is http://www.flmd.uscourts.gov/
Environmental crimes investigations and prosecutions have been rare as hen's teeth here in St. Johns County, Florida. Speculator/developers/landrapers (among other polluters) long held sway here, even bulldozing the home to a nesting pair of bald eagles, our national symbol (less than one month after the attacks of 9/11).
For more background on Thompson Bros. Realty's October 8, 2001 eagle nest tree cutting, see Ed Slavin, "Bald Eagle Coverup -- Four Years Later, No Decision on Prosecution," The Collective Press, (Issue 9, October 2005), online at http://www.collectivepress.org/archive/09_1.html.