Gwynne McDevitt trains hunting dogs for shows and competitions. According to assistant U.S. attorney Richard Zack, lead prosecutor on the case, hawks on McDevitt's Newton Square Farm were interfering with that training.

"McDevitt trains hunting dogs, which she uses in shows and competitions," he says. "She used what are called bait birds, mostly quail, pheasants and pigeons to assist in her training the dogs, and the hawks would actually feed on those bait birds."

Zack says the Fish and Wildlife Service denied McDevitt a permit to trap the birds in 1997. In 1999, she instructed Artemis Jenkins, an employee on her farm, to trap and kill the birds anyway. He was paid $25 for each bird he trapped.

McDevitt and Jenkins are both expected to plead guilty, and have signed plea agreements. Jenkins cooperated in the investigation and is facing a $2,500 fine. McDevitt has agreed to pay a $45,000 fine and nearly $85,000 to two environmental groups, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Philadelphia and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark Delaware.

Assistant Attorney Richard Zack says he hopes McDevitts case will serve as a deterrent to others who might injure or kill migratory birds

"She's also to place an ad in a magazine, it's called Gun Dog magazine, detailing the fact that she's been prosecuted, and what her sentence is as well," says Zack.

Christina Motoyoshi is executive director of Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. She says the money the Fish and Wildlife Service and FBI wanted some of the penalty money to go to her group, so it could be put to an appropriate use.

"They were particularly interested in seeing it benefit birds of prey," says Motoyoshi, "Since the actions of this one individual hurt birds of prey. And so that's exactly how we're going to use the money —to build a new flight cage which will house birds of prey during their rehabilitation."

Motoyoshi says birds of prey serve many important roles in nature, such as helping control rodent and mosquito populations. The final sentencing for McDevitt and Jenkins is expected within the next few weeks.