On Monday, an 81-year-old man in Montana illegally used tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the United States to create hybrid sheep for trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota. He was sentenced to six months in federal prison for the crime.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris said he had a difficult time sentencing Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughan, Montana.
He said he weighed Schubart's age and lack of criminal history against a sentence that would thwart anyone else's attempts to “alter the genetic makeup of life” on Earth.
Mr. Morris also fined Mr. Schubart $20,000 and ordered him to pay $4,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Mr. Schubart will be allowed to self-report to a Bureau of Prisons medical facility.
“I'm going to have to work for the rest of my life to right everything I've done,” Schubart told the judge shortly before sentencing.
Mr Schubarth's lawyer Jason Holden said the cloning of Marco Polo, the giant sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan in 2013, had ruined his client's “life, reputation and family”.
“I think this broke his heart,” Holden said.
Holden asked for a suspended sentence, saying Schubarth was a hard-working man who had always cared for animals and was responsible for cloning a giant sheep he named Montana Mountain King, or MMK, as no one else could. He claimed to have done something.
The animal was seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is being held at an accredited facility until it can be transferred to a zoo, said Richard Bear, a special agent with the wildlife agency.
Sarah Brown, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, argued that Schubart's illegal breeding activities were widespread, involving other states, and endangering the health of other wildlife. I was asked to hand over the sentence.
The crime was pre-planned, complex and involved many illegal acts, she said.
Mr. Schubart owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch where he purchases “alternative livestock” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves. , sold and bred. Prosecutors said there would be fees. Schubart said he has been in the hunting and ranching business since 1987.
Schubart conspired with five others to use tissue from Marco Polo sheep illegally brought into the United States to clone the animals, and then used the clones and their offspring to create larger hybrid sheep breeds. He pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to create a More valuable for captive hunting activities.
Marco Polo sheep are the world's largest sheep, weighing 300 pounds and with curled horns up to 5 feet long, according to court records.
According to court records, Schubart sold MMK semen and hybrid sheep to three people in Texas, and one person in Minnesota sold 74 sheep for stud at various times during the conspiracy. It is said that he brought it to Mr. Schubart's ranch.
Schubart sold one direct offspring of MMK for $10,000 and other sheep with weaker MMK genes for less.
Prosecutors said the total value of the animals involved was more than $250,000 but less than $550,000.
Prosecutors said the hybrid sheep were also sold to people in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia.
In October 2019, Schubart paid a hunting guide $400 for the testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that he harvested in Montana, extracted the semen and sold, according to court records.
As part of the conspiracy, breeds of sheep not allowed in Montana were brought into the state, including 43 sheep from Texas, prosecutors said.
“We got so focused on getting around the rules that we went off track,” Morris said.
Holden sought reduced damages, claiming Schubarth fed and cared for the hybrid sheep until he was able to slaughter them on his farm and donate the meat to a food bank.
Morris said the remaining hybrid sheep with Marco Polo DNA on the farm must be sent to slaughter by the end of the year, and their meat will also be donated.
Mr. Morris gave Mr. Schubart until December 2025 to sell the Rocky Mountain bighorn hybrid sheep.
Morris said Schubart will not be allowed to breed game animals during the three years he is on probation.
The five co-conspirators are not named in court records, but Schubart's plea agreement requires them to fully cooperate with prosecutors and testify if called.
Montana wildlife officials said the incident remains under investigation.
In a letter attached to his sentencing memorandum, Schubart said he is extremely passionate about all the projects he works on, including the Sheep Project, but is ashamed of his actions.
“My enthusiasm clouded my normal thinking and I searched for gray areas in the law to create the best sheep possible for this sheep industry,” he wrote. “My family has never been bankrupt, but now we are.”
