VAUGHN, Mont. (WJW) — An 80-year-old Montana man faces prison time after authorities say he spent nearly 10 years trying to create giant sheep hybrids to sell to hunting facilities.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Arthur “Jack” Schubarth has plead guilty to two felony wildlife crimes: a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act. Enacted in 1900, the Lacey Act aims to protect wildlife, fish and plants from illegal trafficking.
He owns Schubarth Ranch, a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch, in Vaughn, Mont., that purchases, sells and breeds livestock like mountain sheep, mountain goats and other hoofed mammals.
Schubarth deals with captive hunting operations like shooting preserves or game ranches.
Court documents say he conspired with at least five others between 2013 and 2021 to “create a larger hybrid species of sheep” that would garner higher prices.
He brought parts from the largest sheep in the world, Marco Polo argali sheep, from Kyrgyzstan to the U.S. without declaring importation. Average males can weigh more than 300 pounds and span more than five feet. They are protected internationally and domestically and are prohibited in Montana.
The release states he sent genetic material from the argali parts to a lab to create cloned embryos. He then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named “Montana Mountain King.”
Court documents state he worked with other coconspirators to use MMK’s semen to impregnate various other species of ewes to create hybrid animals. They forged veterinary inspection certificates falsely claiming the animals were legally permitted.
Schubarth also illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana. He purchased parts of the sheep and then transported and sold them in interstate commerce.
“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “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.”
For each felony count, of which Schubarth has plead guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. He is set to be sentenced on July 11.