Howard Man Ordered to Pay $13,662.57 for Killing and Trapping Migratory Birds

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy sentenced a Howard, South Dakota, man convicted of taking, killing, and possessing migratory birds on April 23, 2018.

Armand Joseph Dornbusch, age 63, was sentenced to pay $13,662.57 restitution and $10 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. 

Dornbusch was indicted for taking, killing, and possessing migratory birds by a federal grand jury on January 9, 2018.  He pled guilty on March 21, 2018.

On August 12, 2017, the Miner County Sheriff’s Office received a report about metal traps on wooden fence posts.  Officers found 21 steel-jawed leg-hold traps containing 4 birds still alive and 8 dead birds, including four hawks and one great-horned owl.  Three of the live birds were raptors and underwent surgery at the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls to amputate severely damaged digits on their feet.  The treatment was successful and they were eventually released back into the wild.  As part of his sentence, Dornbusch lost his hunting privileges for 3 years and forfeited all of the traps.

This case was investigated by the Miner County Sheriff’s Department, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Clapper prosecuted the case.