Farmer sentenced to 6 months in prison for illegally cloning giant sheep

Washington: The Montana farmer’s illegal scheme began in 2012, when he paid for his son to hunt one of the world’s largest sheep species in Kyrgyzstan, court documents say. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth then used parts of the sheep in the following years to breed an even larger hybrid species and sell those animals to hunters.

Now, Schubarth is set to spend six months in prison for the ploy after pleading guilty to two felony wildlife counts in March. Both counts stemmed from violations of the Lacey Act, a US federal conservation law that prohibits interstate sales of falsely labelled animals and sales of animals to states where they’re illegal to own.

Montana Mountain King was part of an unlawful scheme to create large, hybrid species of wild sheep. Credit: AP

Under the sentence, Schubarth must also pay a $US20,000 ($29,000) fine and give $US4000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit that aims to preserve native wildlife species and habitats.

Schubarth, 81, declined to comment. He told the judge at his sentencing in Great Falls, Montana, “I will have to work the rest of my life to repair everything I’ve done,” according to the Associated Press.

Jason Holden, Schubarth’s lawyer, did not respond to requests for comment but said at the sentencing that Schubarth’s crimes ruined his “life, reputation and family,” the AP reported.

Edward Grace, assistant director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement department, said in a statement that Schubarth “risked introducing diseases and compromising the genetic integrity of our wild sheep populations”.

“This sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the illegal importation, sale and transport of wildlife, especially when it endangers our natural heritage,” Grace said.

Much of the scheme played out at Schubarth’s 87-hectare ranch in Vaughn, Montana, where he bred and sold mountain sheep, mountain goats and similar breeds. Schubarth paid for his son to take multiple trips to Kyrgyzstan in 2012 and 2013. In January 2013, Schubarth’s son brought back viable tissue from a Marco Polo argali, a rare and large species native to Central Asia, but didn’t declare the materials when he reentered the United States, court documents allege.

Marco Polo argali, a threatened species under the US Endangered Species Act, are prized by trophy hunters for their spiralling horns that can grow more than 150cm and their stocky bodies that can weigh more than 130 kilograms.

Schubarth sought to create an even more valuable species, according to prosecutors. Sheep with larger horns and bodies are worth more to hunters, including at private shooting reserves, where hunters pay to pursue captive game.

In 2014, Schubarth petitioned the state of Montana to allow Marco Polo argali into the state, but officials denied the request due to the potential for disease transmission to native species and the risk of the species establishing feral populations.

But Schubarth agreed to a contract with a cloning facility in 2015, and by late the following year, he had 165 cloned embryos. He implanted embryos in his ewes and in May 2017 bred a male argali, who he named Montana Mountain King.

In the following years, Schubarth bred Montana Mountain King’s semen with other ewe species, creating more hybrid sheep that he sold to captive hunting facilities, mainly in Texas. To do so, he bought Rocky Mountain bighorn sheeps’ testicles, despite Montana prohibiting trade of game animals.

Schubarth sold 11 sheep with one-quarter of Montana Mountain King’s genetics for $US13,200 total to two people in Texas, prosecutors said. He also traded one of that sheep’s offspring for $US10,000 and sold dozens of straws of its semen to breeders in other states.

Schubarth and his accomplices illegally moved ewes across state lines to inseminate them and falsely declared the sheep to be different species to get state veterinary certificates that would permit them to transport the animals. His manoeuvre lasted until October 2022, court documents allege.

“His actions threatened Montana’s native wildlife species for no other reason than he and his co-conspirators wanted to make more money,” Jesse Laslovich, US Attorney for the District of Montana, said in a statement.

Schubarth surrendered his illegal animals to authorities, and their meat was donated to Montana families in need, court documents said. Montana Mountain King is in the custody of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Matthew Nies, a spokesman for the Justice Department.

As part of Schubert’s sentencing, US District Court Judge Brian Morris ruled that Schubarth cannot breed big game stock for three years.

Two of Schubarth’s co-conspirators were each sentenced to a year of probation in the scheme last year.

The Washington Post

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