Updated 12 p.m. Oct. 1
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, of Vaughn was sentenced Sept. 30 to six months in federal prison for committing two felony wildlife crimes.
In March, he plead guilty to a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act as part of an almost decade-long effort to create giant sheep hybrids in the U.S. with an aim to sell the species to captive hunting facilities.
He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, a $4,000 payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a $200 special assessment.
Vaughn man pleads guilty to federal wildlife crimes
Schubarth is the owner and operator of Sun River Enterprises LLC, also known as Schubarth Ranch, which is a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch in Vaughn.
The Schubarth Ranch is engaged in the purchase, sale and breeding of “alternative livestock” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and various ungulates. The primary market for Schubarth’s livestock is captive hunting operations, also known as shooting preserves or game ranches.
The Schubarth family also owns Jack’s Pet Center in downtown Great Falls.
His attorney, Jason Holden, asked for 12 months probation in a sentencing memo.
“Jack is an 81-year-old non-violent man. His crime, the cloning of a Marco Polo Sheep from Kyrgyzstan, has ruined his life, reputation and family. Jack did something no one else could, or has ever done. 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 rewrite history, would have left the challenge of cloning a Marco Polo to only the imagination of Michael Crichton.” Holden wrote.
In his own letter to the court, Schubarth wrote that he came to Montana in 1961 with the Air Force. He wrote that he started breeding fish and birds and opened a pet shop out of his home in 1962 selling those animals.
He and his wife opened Jack’s Pet Center in 1966 when he was discharged from the Air Force.
“The one thing I remember was on our first day open we only made one dollar which we still have,” he wrote.
In the letter written in February, he detailed his history with animal breeding.
“My health is a problem as I have diabetes and need another shoulder replacement. I work every day six to 12 hours as I believe in the saying ‘use it or lose it.’ I have something going on in my stomach and will going to have that checked out. At my age and lack of extended poor behavior and that I’m a strong family man that my family depend on, I believe a house arrest would serve the crime if jail time were required,” Schubarth wrote. “My biggest fault is I become extremely passionate in any project I take on. This is what happened with my sheep project. I got my normal mind set clouded by my enthusiasm for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry. I’m very sorry for my actions and deeply ashamed and I’m sorry I have caused my family pain and a loss of money. My family has never been broke, but we are now.”
According to court documents, Schubarth conspired with at least five other individuals between 2013 and 2021 to create a larger hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves. Schubarth brought parts of the largest sheep in the world, Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan into the U.S. without declaring the importation, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Vaughn man charged in federal court for illegal sheep breeding
Average males can weigh more than 300 pounds, with horns that span more than five feet. Marco Polo argali are native to the high elevations of the Pamir region of Central Asia. They are protected internationally by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and domestically by the Endangered Species Act, and are prohibited in the State of Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization.
Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali parts to a lab to create cloned embryos, then implanted the embryos in ewes on his ranch, resulting in a single, pure genetic male Marco Polo argali that he named “Montana Mountain King” or MMK.
Schubarth worked with the other unnamed co-conspirators to use MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate various other species of ewes, all of which were prohibited in Montana, and create hybrid animals with the goal of creating a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas, according to court documents.
Schubarth and others forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species, to move the prohibited sheep into and out of Montana. He also sold MMK semen directly to sheep breeders in other states on some occasions, according to court documents.
Disease introduction was a risk associated with Schubarth’s conduct and at least two sheep from the scheme died from Johne’s disease, which is a contagious, chronic wasting disease easily spread between animals directly or through environmental contamination, according to court documents.
Schubarth illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana; purchased parts of these wild-hunted sheep in violation of Montana law, which prohibits the sale of game animal parts within the state and prohibits the use of Montana game animals on alternative livestock ranches; and transported and sold the bighorn parts in interstate commerce, according to court documents.
“Schubarth’s criminal conduct is not how Montanans treat our wildlife population,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana, said in a release. “His actions threatened Montana’s native wildlife species for no other reason than he and his co-conspirators wanted to make more money. Schubarth’s greed drove their conspiracy to bring to Montana parts of the largest sheep in the world from Kyrgyzstan. Such actions to create hybrid animals are as unnatural as they are illegal, and I applaud the extensive collaboration and diligence of all of our law enforcement partners to bring Schubarth to justice.”
The Lacey Act prohibits interstate trade in wildlife that has been taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of federal or state law. The Lacey Act also prohibits the interstate sale of wildlife that has been falsely labeled.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Sarah M. Brown and Senior Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Starnes for the District of Montana prosecuted the case.
