To develop hybrid sheep for use in Texas and Minnesota’s trophy hunting, an 81-year-old man from Montana was sentenced on Monday to six months in federal prison for utilising the tissue and testicles of huge sheep that were hunted in Central Asia and the United States illegally.
Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court said he had difficulty deciding on a punishment for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana. According to him, the judge considered Schubarth’s age and clean background while determining the appropriate sentence to prevent future attempts to “change the genetic makeup of the creatures” on Earth.
In addition, Schubarth was fined $20,000 by Morris and mandated to pay $4,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Schubarth will be permitted to self-report to a medical centre run by the Bureau of Prisons.
“I will have to work the rest of my life to repair everything I’ve done,” Schubarth told the judge just before sentencing.
Jason Holden, Schubarth’s lawyer, claimed that his client’s “life, reputation, and family have been ruined” by the cloning of the enormous Marco Polo sheep that was hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013.
“I think this has broken him,” Holden said.
Holden, in seeking a probationary term, stated that Schubarth was a hard-working man who has always cared for animals and did something that no one else could have done in cloning the huge sheep, which he christened Montana Mountain King or MMK.
According to Richard Bare, a special agent with the Wildlife Service, the animal has been taken by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and is being housed in an approved facility until it can be moved to a zoo.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Sarah Brown had requested that Schubarth get a prison term, citing the illegal breeding operation’s extensive reach, involvement in other states, and threat to the welfare of other wildlife. She claimed that the crime was complicated, included multiple criminal activities, and required preparation.
Owner of Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch, Schubarth buys, sells, and breeds “alternative livestock,” such as ungulates, mountain sheep, and mountain goats, mostly for use in private hunting preserves where clients can shoot trophy game animals in captivity for a fee, according to the prosecution. According to Schubarth, he has been in the game farm industry since 1987.
Schubarth entered a guilty plea in March to allegations that he and five other individuals had planned to clone a sheep that had been brought into the country illegally using its tissue. The goal was to produce a larger, hybrid species of sheep that would be more desirable for hunting operations in captivity.
Court records stated that Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, with horns that may grow up to five feet long and weigh up to 300 pounds.
According to prosecution documents, a Minnesota resident sent 74 sheep to Schubarth’s ranch to be inseminated at different points during the conspiracy, while Schubarth sold hybrid sheep and semen from MMK to three individuals in Texas. For $10,000, Schubarth sold a direct descendent of MMK, and for less sums, he sold additional sheep that had fewer MMK DNA.
Prosecutors stated that the animals implicated had a combined value of more than $250,000 but less than $550,000. According to the prosecution, hybrid sheep were also sold to residents of West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
The testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that had been slaughtered in Montana were purchased by Schubarth from a hunting guide in October 2019, according to court filings. The guide then extracted and sold the semen from the sheep.
Prosecutors stated that as part of the plot, breeds of sheep that are illegal in Montana were brought in, including 43 sheep from Texas.
Holden asked for a lesser amount of compensation, claiming that Schubarth took care of and fed the hybrid sheep on his property so that the meat could be given to a food bank. Morris stated that by the end of the year, the last of the hybrid sheep on his ranch with Marco Polo DNA must be put to death, and the meat must be donated as well. Morris offered Schubarth until December 2025 to sell his hybrid sheep, Rocky Mountain Bighorn.
Morris stated that Schubarth would not be permitted to breed game stock during the duration of his three-year probation.
Court documents did not list the five co-conspirators, but Schubarth’s plea deal calls for him to fully assist the prosecution and provide a statement if asked to. The matter is still being looked into, according to wildlife officials in Montana.
In a statement that was included with the sentencing memo, Schubarth stated that he is embarrassed by his acts and that he gets very passionate about whatever project he works on, even his “sheep project.”
“I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry,” he wrote. “My family has never been broken, but we are now.”
