Farmer’s poisoned corn kills bald eagle in Texas, costing him $12,000, court rules

A farmer in Texas will have to pay nearly $12,000 in restitution after he killed a bald eagle with poisoned corn, a federal court ruled on Wednesday.

In March 2018, officials found a number of dead animals — including a bald eagle — dead in a field near Bay City, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the southern district of Texas.

Bay City is roughly 80 miles southwest of Houston.

The animals appeared to have been poisoned and officials were investigating to find the source when they met Leonard Cornelius, 35, thefederal prosecutor said in a news release.

Cornelius told officials birds had been damaging his crops and that he’d coated 30 pounds of corn with poison and spread it in his field in an attempt to kill them, according to the release. He admitted to seeing several dead hogs and birds after spreading the poison.

Tests confirmed that it was, indeed, poisoned corn that killed the bald eagle, the release said. While bald eagles are no longer endangered, they are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

The federal act makes it illegal to “kill, possess, sell, transport, export or import, any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless specifically allowed by permit,” according to the release.

Cornelius pleaded guilty to killing a bald eagle. On Wednesday, he was ordered to serve one year probation and pay $11,907.50 in restitution to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the release said.

This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 7:48 AM with the headline "Farmer’s poisoned corn kills bald eagle in Texas, costing him $12,000, court rules."