A Montana man is facing sentencing in a federal court for cloning the world's largest sheep. He cloned the sheep for hunting purposes.
Authorities allege the 81-year-old used tissue from Central Asian sheep to illegally create a hybrid sheep. He created the animal for hunting purposes. However, prosecutors aren't seeking jail time. Instead, they are asking for a one-year probationary sentence for Arthur "Jack" Schubarth.
However, the crime carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The Montana man's lawyer alleges that the scandal ruined his "life, reputation and family." Schubarth allegedly cloned the giant Marco Polo sheep. It's the world's largest species and can weigh up to 300 pounds. The Montana man successfully managed to clone the animal. It's an accomplishment that the court acknowledged.
Schubarth named his cloned animal Montana Mountain King. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services have since confiscated the animal.
Man Accused Of Cloning Sheep
"Jack did something no one else could, or has ever done," the memo said. "On a ranch, in a barn in Montana, he created Montana Mountain King. MMK is an extraordinary animal, born of science, and from a man who, if he could re-write history, would have left the challenge of cloning a Marco Polo only to the imagination of Michael Crichton."
The Montana man also runs Sun River Enterprises LLC, on his 215-acre livestock ranch. He allows private hunters to hunt livestock at the ranch. Ultimately, Schubarth pled guilty earlier this year. He admitted that he planned to use the clone and its offspring to create a new hybrid species of sheep for hunting purposes. He sold semen from MMK to three people in Texas.
Schubarth admitted that his passion for the project clouded his judgement. He said that he feels remorse and shame for how he acted and for his actions. "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 broke, but we are now."
We'll see what the court ultimately sentences him to.
