A Montana man has recently been busted for one of the stranger illegal wildlife schemes we've heard of: cloning and breeding sheep.
Arthur "Jack" Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana is a game farm owner who, until now, illegally bred the renowned Marco Polo sheep. Marco Polo sheep, also known as Pamir argali, are the largest wild sheep in the world, weighing over 300 pounds, and have the largest horns of any wild sheep. They are understandably a sought-after game animal; the sheep are only native to the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, Afghanistan, China, and Kyrgyzstan, where hunts for them can run upwards of $20,000.
The sheep are also classified as "near threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. International trade of Marco Polo sheep is under strict control and requires permits from the native range's countries. They are considered an illegal species under Montana state law.
That didn't stop Schubarth from starting his own, Frankenstein-esque Marco Polo sheep trafficking ring right in the state, however. According to the Daily Montanan, the scheme started in January 2013, when Schubarth got a hold of some tissue from a male Marco Polo sheep that was killed in Kyrgyzstan and illegally imported to the U.S. He had a third party store the sheep parts, and two years later signed a contract to have the sheep cloned, putting down a $4,200 deposit.
In November 2016, Schubarth received 165 cloned embryos of Marco Polo sheep. A male sheep was born from these embryos, which Schubarth called the "Montana Mountain King."
Now it gets even weirder. Schubarth began harvesting semen from his Montana Mountain King to inseminate other ewes, creating a hybrid sheep. He started a business of it, shipping dozens of straws of the Mountain King's semen to an unnamed person in Texas. Someone else brought 26 illegal sheep to Schubarth's range to be inseminated, paying Schubarth at least $600 before taking 16 of the sheep back to Minnesota.
Over the next several years, Schubarth added more clients in Texas, and the person in Minnesota brought more sheep to be inseminated at his ranch. In 2020, Schubarth agreed to sell one of Montana Mountain King's sons and 11 other sheep that had a quarter of his genetics to two people in Texas for $23,000. The Marco Polo hybrids were transported under falsified veterinary certificates from state livestock boards, which listed the sheep as New Mexico Dall sheep, New Mexico "domestic" sheep, and "Bighorn x" sheep when they were sold.
Schubarth has been charged with federal conspiracy and trafficking. He faces felony charges for violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits people from selling, transporting, or buying any wildlife through interstate commerce when the person knew it was being transported or sold in violation of federal law or regulations.
Schubarth has entered a plea agreement in the Montana District Court in Great Falls, pleading guilty to one felony count of Lacey Act trafficking and one felony count of conspiracy to violate the Lacy Act. The fair market value for everything Schubarth exchanged with other buyers and sellers is between $250,000 and $550,000, according to the Daily Montanan.
The maximum penalties for each charge would be five years in prison with three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The plea agreement could ensure a less serious sentence.
Five additional people are identified in the charging documents; three from Texas, one from Minnesota, and one from Montana.
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