The aim was to breed bigger and more valuable types of wild sheep for sale to hunting reserves, mainly in Texas, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In Vaughn, Montana, a man could face a decade in prison and half a million dollars in fines for admitting guilt in a scheme that lasted nearly ten years. This scheme involved creating large sheep hybrids for sale to captive hunting facilities.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, from Vaughn, Montana, confessed to two serious crimes on Tuesday. He admitted to conspiring to break the Lacey Act and to a direct violation of the same act. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that each charge could lead to five years in jail and fines up to $250,000.
The Lacey Act bans the interstate commerce of wildlife obtained, possessed, transported, or sold against federal or state laws. It also outlaws the interstate sale of wildlife under false labels.
Schubarth runs Sun River Enterprises LLC, also known as Schubarth Ranch, which spans 215 acres.
This ranch was involved in buying, selling, and breeding “alternative livestock” like mountain sheep, goats, and various ungulates. Its main customers were hunting operations, also known as shooting preserves or game ranches.
Court records reveal that from 2013 to 2021, Schubarth and at least five others conspired to breed a larger, hybrid sheep species. They aimed to sell these bigger, more valuable sheep at higher prices to shooting preserves, mostly located in Texas, as stated by the Department of Justice.
Schubarth imported parts of the world’s largest sheep, the Marco Polo argali from Kyrgyzstan, without declaring them.
The average Marco Polo sheep weighs over 300 pounds and has horns that can measure more than five feet in length. These sheep are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which falls under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Their importation is banned in Montana to shield native sheep from diseases and hybridization.
The Department of Justice reported that Schubarth sent genetic material from the Marco Polo sheep parts to a lab. There, cloned embryos were created and implanted into ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, genetically pure male Marco Polo argali named “Montana Mountain King.”
Schubarth and his coconspirators used the semen from Montana Mountain King to artificially inseminate various ewe species, an act illegal in Montana, to produce hybrid animals.
To transport prohibited sheep in and out of Montana, Schubarth and his team forged veterinary documents, falsely declaring the sheep as permitted species. Occasionally, Schubarth also sold Montana Mountain King’s semen directly to sheep breeders in other states.
Furthermore, Schubarth illegally acquired genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. This act violated Montana laws that ban the sale of game animal parts within the state and the use of Montana game animals on alternative livestock ranches.
Schubarth engaged in interstate commerce to transport and sell the bighorn parts, according to the Department of Justice.
“This was a bold plan to create large hybrid sheep species for sale and trophy hunting,” stated Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “In chasing this plan, Schubarth broke international law and the Lacey Act, both of which aim to protect the health and survival of native animal populations.”