Montana Man Imprisoned for Creating Hybrid Animals to Hunt for Sport Says He Got Carried Away

A Montana man said he got carried away after he was sentenced to six months in prison for creating hybrid animals to hunt for sport.

Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, 81, pleaded guilty earlier this year to cloning and trafficking large species of Asian sheep and selling their DNA, violating the Lacey Act, as reported by the Daily Montanan.

Officials decided on the light sentence after Schubarth was helpful in their investigation, according to a sentencing memo obtained by the Daily Montanan, adding that the sentence was only a quarter of the maximum. Officials also noted that he was unlikely to commit the crime again due to his old age.

From 2013 to 2021, federal prosecutors said that Schubarth created large hybrid sheep meant to be hunted in captive hunting operations. He cloned parts of the Marco Polo argali sheep from Kyrgyzstan, the world's largest sheep, which were imported illegally.

Genetic material from the Marco Polo sheep was cloned and then implanted into embryos of sheep at his ranch in Vaughn, Montana. The result was a Marco Polo argali sheep he called the "Montana Mountain King."

"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 and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry," Schubarth wrote to the judge in February. "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."

Schubarth was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and $4,000 to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.

Jesse Laslovich, the US Attorney for the District of Montana, said in a news release obtained by KPAX, "Schubarth's criminal conduct is not how Montanans treat our wildlife population. 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 transporting, selling or buying wildlife through interstate commerce if known that it is in violation of federal law. This includes if the trade was falsely labeled.