Ted Nelson, 69, of Letcher was convicted in federal court recently, of the unlawful taking of a bald eagle and unlawful use of the pesticide Carbofuran.
The Letcher man faces up to 13 months in custody for his role in the death of the eagle. The conviction stems from incidents occurring between Jan. 1 and May 12, 2015, when he injected the pesticide into dead cows to kill predators.
Nelson’s actions apparently led to the death of coyotes and a bald eagle, which died after eating a coyote carcass with poison in its system. Carbofuran is toxic to wildlife and its use is prohibited.
Lab results from the National Fish & Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., confirmed the poisoning death. The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks.
Nelson is currently in custody with the U.S. Marshals Service. He has been in custody since May 2015, serving a five-year prison sentence for a federal tax fraud scheme, with crimes dating back to 2002.
Nelson also served one year in prison in 2011-12 for harboring a man wanted for tax fraud and other crimes.