https://theelectricgf.com/2024...egal-sheep-breeding/


VAUGHN MAN CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT FOR ILLEGAL SHEEP BREEDING

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Jenn Rowell


Arthur “Jack” Schubarth was charged in federal court on Feb. 5 for conspiracy and Lacey Act trafficking for an illegal sheep breeding operation in Vaughn.

Schubarth owns and operates a 215-acre game farm in Vaughn under the name Sun River Enterprises LLC.

The business “engaged in the purchase, sale and breeding of mountain sheep, mountain goats and other ungulates with a primary purpose of marketing and selling live animals and genetic material to captive hunting operations, also known as game ranches or shooting reserves,” according to court documents.

His family owns and operates Jack’s Pet Store in downtown Great Falls. That shop is not associated with this federal case.

Schubarth signed a plea deal in which he agrees to plead guilty in exchange for the government recommending a lower sentence.

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled, but a proposed order from the prosecution suggested March 12.

The charges are felonies that carry a maximum of up to five years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss and a year of supervised release.

In the agreement, the government also recommends that Schubarth be required to make a donation of not more than a quarter of the criminal fine to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a congressionally chartered nonprofit.

The ranch is bordered by state, private and federal lands in the vicinity of national forests and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, where a variety of wildlife are native to the geographic area, including Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep, according to court documents.

The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to knowingly transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase, in interstate commerce, any wildlife they knew was taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of federal rules.

It also prohibits making or submitting false records or identification of wildlife for interstate or foreign commerce, according to court documents.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, details the protection level of wildlife and includes a list of species that may become endangered if trade of the species is not regulated with permits and quotas, according to court documents.

CITES is used in the U.S. through the Endangered Species Act.

To protect native wildlife and plant species in Montana, the state prohibited certain exotic species from being imported, possessed or sold in Montana, including Argali sheep, Transcaspian urial sheep and mouflon sheep.

According to court documents, from at least Jan. 25, 2013 to October 2022, Schubarth “knowingly combined, conspired, confederated and agreed” with others to sell and purchase argali sheep with a market value of more than $350, in violation of state and federal laws.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors state the value of the illegal sheep was more than $250,000 but less than $550,000.

Marco Polo argali sheep are large, regularly weighing more than 300 pounds, with unique long spiraling horns and are native to high elevations of the Pamir Mountains region that spans Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China, according to court documents.

Argali sheep are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and internationally protected under CITES. They’re commonly hunted for sport in Tajikistan, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan and imports of argali trophies, parts, products and specimens into the U.S. are tightly regulated and require a CITES permit from the originating county and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Schubarth engaged a third party to create a cloned argali sheep from argali parts hunted in the wild in Kyrgyzstan and maintain the genetic line at a third party facility; he and others performed laparoscopic artificial insemination and other forms of artificial breeding to create larger more valuable lines of argali sheep at the Schubarth ranch and elsewhere; and used electronic communications to coordinate sale and transport of wildlife and wildlife parts and discuss false documentation to conceal the illegal wildlife, according to court documents.

According to the charging documents:

round Jan. 25, 2013, an unnamed Montana resident entered the U.S. with biological tissue from an argali sheep hunted in Kyrgystan and did not declare the parts upon entry;
shortly thereafter, Schubarth entered into a “cell storage agreement” to preserve that tissue;
in October 2015, Schubarth entered into an “ovine cloning contract” to clone an unspecified number of argali sheep from the tissue and paid a $4,200 deposit;
in November 2016, Schubarth received 165 cloned embryos at his ranch;
in May 2017, a pure argali sheep male was born
starting in 2018, Schubarth harvested semen from that sheep to artificially inseminate ewes to create hybrid offspring;
in October 2018, Schubarth shipped 20 straws of the cloned sheep’s semen to a second unnamed person in Texas;
in November 2018, a third unnamed person transported 26 prohibited species of sheep from Minnesota to Schubarth’s ranch in Vaughn to be artificially inseminated with semen from the first argali clone and the person issued a $600 check to Schubarth and transported some of those sheep back to Minnesota;
in May 2019, the first unnamed Montana resident transported an offspring of the initial clone from Minnesota to Schubarth’s ranch;
in November 2019, Schubarth shipped 37 staws of the clone’s semen to the second unnamed person in Texas, and 23 straws to a fourth unnamed person in Texas;
in November 2019, the third unnamed person transported 48 prohibited sheep species of ewes from Minnesota to Schubarth’s ranch to be artificially inseminated by the first cloned sheep;
in May 2020, Schubarth offered to sell an offspring of the clone to a fourth and fifth unnamed persons in Texas;
in July 2020, he offered those two people eleven sheep that were mixed of the first clone and its offspring for $13,200 and $10,000; the fifth person that month obtained a Texas Animal Health Commission Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for the interstate export of 43 sheep falsely declared and New Mexico Dahl Sheep that were transported to the Schubarth ranch; around that time, the fifth person issued a $23,000 check to Schubarth for 12 offspring of the illegal sheep;
the fifth person also obtained Montana Department of Livestock Certificate of Veterinary Inspection transferring the sheep to Texas labeling them as Bighorn and New Mexico domestic sheep that were transported to Texas;
in November 2020, the third unnamed person transported at least two of the illegal offspring from Vaughn to Minnesota and in February 2021 purchased two falsely labeled sheep from Schubarth;
in February 2021, Schubarth and the fifth person discussed the name for the hybrid argali they were creating at one point saying they couldn’t call it “black argali.”

When money is involved, people will do some of the stupidest decisions

https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp...ent_Outdoor_Life.pdf


Link to plea agreement.

This was a criminal scheme? If a university or zoo was doing it, we'd laud their efforts to preserve a species...

What am I missing here?

I think the issue is that he was crossbreeding with asiatic argali and not keeping his sheep away from the wild ones, at least to the level the law requires. Thus introducing nonnative DNA.

It’s undoubtedly addressed ad nauseum in the ESA.

I’m not a big fan of hybridizing species for the game farm market, which is what it sounds like from my superficial reading of the link.

Zoos and universities usually don’t interbreed and release to the wild.

Fucking stupid.

They always fuck the farmer.

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:


Zoos and universities usually don’t interbreed and release to the wild.

The Florida panther lie is the biggest one that comes to mind. This is government fraud. There are no Florida panthers, there was probably never true pure Florida panthers.

All these so call sub species is just way to reduce hunting ect.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr...rslong-effort-create

PRESS RELEASE
Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

Defendant Worked to Traffic Marco Polo Sheep Parts from Kyrgyzstan, Clone Sheep, Illegally Inseminate Ewes to Create Hybrids and Traffic Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Parts

A Montana man pleaded guilty today to two felony wildlife crimes – 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 United States with an aim to sell the species to captive hunting facilities.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana, 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.

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 (Ovis ammon polii), from Kyrgyzstan into the United States without declaring the importation. 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, domestically by the U.S. 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. Schubarth 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.

Court documents explain that Schubarth worked with the other unnamed coconspirators to use MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate various other species of ewes – all of which were prohibited in Montana – and create hybrid animals. Their goal was to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas.

To move the prohibited sheep into and out of Montana, Schubarth and others forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species. On occasion, Schubarth sold MMK semen directly to sheep breeders in other states.

Court documents also describe how Schubarth illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana. Schubarth 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. Schubarth transported and sold the bighorn parts in interstate commerce.

“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “In pursuit of this scheme, Schubarth violated international law and the Lacey Act, both of which protect the viability and health of native populations of animals.”

“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” said Ron Howell, Chief of Enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). “This was a complex case and the partnership between us and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service was critical in solving it.”

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 Act is one of the most powerful tools the United States has to combat wildlife trafficking and prevent ecological invasion by injurious wildlife.

For each felony count, Schubarth faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Schubarth is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Morris for the District of Montana.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana FWP are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Sarah M. Brown and Senior Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Starnes for the District of Montana are prosecuting the case.

Updated March 12, 2024

https://www.usnews.com/news/ne...captive-trophy-hunts


Montana Man to Be Sentenced for Cloning Giant Sheep to Breed Large Sheep for Captive Trophy Hunts

An 81-year-old Montana man is expected to be sentenced for using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the U.S. to illegally create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunts in Texas and Minnesota

By Associated Press
|
Sept. 30, 2024, at 12:18 a.m.



HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An 81-year-old Montana man faces sentencing in federal court Monday in Great Falls for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the U.S. to illegally create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota.

Prosecutors are not seeking prison time for Arthur “Jack” Schubarth of Vaughn, Montana, according to court records. He is asking for a one-year probationary sentence for violating the federal wildlife trafficking laws. The maximum punishment for the two Lacey Act violations is five years in prison. The fine can be up to $250,000 or twice the defendant's financial gain.



In his request for the probationary sentence, Schubarth's attorney said cloning the giant Marco Polo sheep hunted in Kyrgyzstan has ruined his client's “life, reputation and family.”

However, the sentencing memorandum also congratulates Schubarth for successfully cloning the endangered sheep, which he named Montana Mountain King. The animal has been confiscated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.

“Jack did something no one else could, or has ever done,” the memo said. “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 re-write history, would have left the challenge of cloning a Marco Polo only to the imagination of Michael Crichton,” who is the author of the science fiction novel Jurassic Park.

Schubarth owns Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre (87-hectare) alternative livestock ranch, which buys, sells and breeds “alternative livestock” such as mountain sheep, mountain goats and ungulates, primarily for private hunting preserves, where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee, prosecutors said. He had been in the game farm business since 1987, Schubarth said.


Schubarth pleaded guilty in March to charges that he and five other people conspired to use tissue from a Marco Polo sheep illegally brought into the U.S. to clone that animal and then use the clone and its descendants to create a larger, hybrid species of sheep that would be more valuable for captive hunting operations.

Marco Polo sheep are the largest in the world, can weigh 300 pounds (136 kilograms) and have curled horns up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, court records said.

Schubarth sold semen from MMK along with hybrid sheep to three people in Texas, while a Minnesota resident brought 74 sheep to Schubarth’s ranch for them to be inseminated at various times during the conspiracy, court records said. Schubarth sold one direct offspring from MMK for $10,000 and other sheep with lesser MMK genetics for smaller amounts.


In October 2019, court records said, Schubarth paid a hunting guide $400 for the testicles of a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep that had been harvested in Montana and then extracted and sold the semen, court records said.


Sheep breeds that are not allowed in Montana were brought into the state as part of the conspiracy, including 43 sheep from Texas, prosecutors said.

The five co-conspirators were not named in court records, but Schubarth's plea agreement requires him to cooperate fully with prosecutors and testify if called to do so. The case is still being investigated, Montana wildlife officials said.

Schubarth, in a letter attached to the sentencing memo, said he becomes extremely passionate about any project he takes on, including his “sheep project,” and is ashamed of his actions.

“I got my normal mindset clouded by my enthusiasm and looked for any grey area in the law to make the best sheep I could for this sheep industry,” he wrote. “My family has never been broke, but we are now.”

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr...rslong-effort-create


Press Release

Montana Man Sentenced for Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting

Monday, September 30, 2024

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

Defendant Worked to Traffic Marco Polo Sheep Parts from Kyrgyzstan, Clone Sheep, Illegally Inseminate Ewes to Create Hybrids and Traffic Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Parts

A Montana man was sentenced today to six months in prison for committing two felony wildlife crimes — 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 United States with an aim to sell the species to captive hunting facilities.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, of Vaughn, 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.

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 (Ovis ammon polii), from Kyrgyzstan into the United States without declaring the importation. 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 (CITES) 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. Schubarth 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.


Court documents explain that Schubarth worked with the other unnamed coconspirators to use MMK’s semen to artificially impregnate various other species of ewes — all of which were prohibited in Montana — and create hybrid animals. Their goal was to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas.

To move the prohibited sheep into and out of Montana, Schubarth and others forged veterinary inspection certificates, falsely claiming that the sheep were legally permitted species. On occasion, Schubarth sold MMK semen directly to sheep breeders in other states. 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. Johne’s disease is a contagious, chronic wasting disease easily spread between animals directly or through environmental contamination.

Court documents also describe how Schubarth illegally obtained genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana. Schubarth 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. Schubarth transported and sold the bighorn parts in interstate commerce.

“Schubarth not only violated federal and state law and international treaties, but he and others illegally conspired to conceal their actions from authorities,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Violations of the Lacey Act, CITES and other laws can be devastating for our domestic populations of wild animals, which is why we are unwavering in our commitment to enforce them.”

“Schubarth’s criminal conduct is not how Montanans treat our wildlife population,” said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana. “Indeed, 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.”

“This case exemplifies the serious threat that wildlife trafficking poses to our native species and ecosystems,” said Assistant Director Edward Grace of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement. “Mr. Schubarth's actions not only violated multiple laws designed to protect wildlife, but also risked introducing diseases and compromising the genetic integrity of our wild sheep populations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remains committed to working with our partners to investigate and prosecute those who exploit protected species for personal gain. This sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the illegal importation, sale and transport of wildlife, especially when it endangers our natural heritage.”

“This case is complex and is a great example of how we work together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect resources no matter where the investigation takes us,” said Chief of Law Enforcement Ron Howell of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

In addition to his prison sentence, Schubarth was 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.

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 Act is one of the most powerful tools the United States has to combat wildlife trafficking and prevent ecological invasion by injurious wildlife.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks are investigating 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 are prosecuting the case.

Updated September 30, 2024