A Montana man pleaded guilty before a federal judge to two felony wildlife crimes for an almost decade-long effort to create giant sheep hybrids to sell the species to hunting facilities, the U.S. The Department of Justice announced this week.
Eighty-year-old Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana, is the owner and operator of Sun River Enterprises LLC – also known as Schubarth Ranch – a 215-acre “alternative livestock” ranch, according to a March 12 press release from the DOJ.
Schubarth conspired with at least five other individuals between 2013 and 2021 to genetically engineer a larger hybrid sheep species that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves, according to the release, which cites court documents in his case.
“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said in the release.
Schubarth is subject to a maximum jail sentence of five years and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.
To genetically engineer the sheep species, the DOJ said Schubarth imported parts of Marco Polo argali sheep, which is the largest sheep species in the world, from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. without declaring the importation.
Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali sheep to a lab to create cloned embryos, which he then implanted in a female sheep on his ranch, according to the DOJ, which produced a single, pure genetic male that Schubarth named the “Montana Mountain King,” or MMK.
To create several hybrid sheep, Schubarth used MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate various species of female sheep, as per the DOJ.
“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” Ron Howell, Chief of Enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), said in the release.
Schubarth and the unnamed conspirators wanted to sell the larger and more valuable genetically hybrid sheep to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas, according to the DOJ. In order to move hybrid sheep across state lines, Schubarth forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species, according to the federal agency.
Schubarth also sold MMK’s semen directly to sheep breeders outside of Montana, according to the DOJ, and illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana for interstate commerce.
On Tuesday, Schubarth pleaded guilty before a federal judge in Great Falls, Montana to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantive violations of the Lacey Act.
“In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim said.
The Lacey Act prohibits the trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.
created giant hybrid sheep to sell for thousands
The moneymaking scheme sought to create a hybrid species of sheep that could be sold at a high price to hunting preserves in the United States and would mimic the world’s biggest breed, the Marco Polo argali sheep, a threatened species that lives in central Asia and is prized by trophy hunters.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, created more than 150 cloned embryos of the species and successfully bred a male Marco Polo argali, selling one of its offspring for $10,000, according to the criminal complaint filed against him by federal prosecutors. He used the sheep’s sperm to breed it with other species, creating hybrid sheep, and selling them to people in Texas and Minnesota.
Schubarth sold dozens of straws of Montana Mountain King’s semen to people in Texas and Minnesota, and they illegally moved ewes from both states to Schubarth’s ranch to be artificially inseminated, the complaint alleges. They then transported Montana Mountain King’s offspring to Texas and Minnesota.
In addition to the $10,000 sheep, Schubarth sold 11 sheep with one-quarter of Montana Mountain King’s genetics for $13,200 total to two people in Texas, prosecutors said.
