A livestock rancher from Bourne, Montana, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to running a scheme to create, breed and sell giant sheep as captive hunting facilities that could ultimately be killed.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that 80-year-old Arthur “Jack” Schubarth has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and substantive violations of the Lacey Act.
The Lacey Act prohibits interstate trade in wildlife taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of federal or state law, but it also prohibits the sale of falsely labeled wildlife. . This law was enacted to combat wild animal tracking and prevent harmful wild animals from entering the ecosystem.
According to the Department of Justice, Schubart is the owner and operator of a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch known as Schubart Ranch, where he buys, breeds and sells “alternative livestock” such as mountain goats and mountain sheep.
Tennessee man sentenced to prison for using spotlight to hunt deer and threatening landowners
Skulls of two Marco Polo sheep in the Wakhan Corridor, northeastern Afghanistan, 2004. (Scott Wallace/Getty Images)
Schubart sold livestock to captive hunting operations, shooting preserves, and game ranches.
“This was an audacious scheme to produce large numbers of hybrid sheep to be sold and hunted as trophies,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “In pursuing this plan, Schubart violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native animal populations.”
According to the Justice Department, from 2013 to 2021, Schubart and at least five other co-conspirators worked to create larger hybrid sheep breeds for potential higher prices from hunting ranches. He said he worked on it.
To create the giant sheep, Mr. Schubart paid for some of the world’s largest sheep, the Marco Polo Argali sheep, to be imported into the United States from Kyrgyzstan, but he did not declare the import.
Pennsylvania man sentenced for using drone to help hunter find deer carcass
Arthur Schubart is accused of illegally obtaining genetic material from wild Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. (David McNew/Getty Images)
Marco Polo sheep can weigh more than 300 pounds and have horns more than 5 feet wide, according to the Department of Justice. Sheep live in the highlands of the Pamir region of Central Asia.
Schubart was accused of sending genetic material from sheep parts to a lab to create cloned embryos and feeding it to ewes on his farm. As a result, a single pure man, Marco Polo, was born, which he named “Montana Mountain King” or “MMK”.
Washington man pleads guilty to ‘serial killing’ of more than 3,000 birds and illegal sale of feathers
Arthur Schubart is accused of illegally obtaining genetic material from wild Rock Mountain bighorn sheep. (David McNew/Getty Images)
Schubart and his co-conspirators sometimes used MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate sheep of other species, creating hybrid animals. The type of ewe that Schubart and his colleagues planned to artificially impregnate was banned in Montana, according to the Department of Justice.
Mr. Schubart wanted to sell the larger, more valuable sheep, primarily to hunting ranches in Texas.
However, Schubart and others allegedly falsified veterinary inspection certificates and falsely claimed they were a permitted species to avoid shipments of the animals from Montana. Schubart also sold MMK semen to sheep farmers in other states, according to the Justice Department.
He is also accused in court documents of illegally obtaining genetic material from Rock Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“The types of crimes detected here can threaten the health of Montana’s wildlife species,” said Ron Howell, executive director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “This was a complex case, and our partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was critical to its resolution.”
For each felony count, Schubart faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on July 11th.
