Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Illegally Importing Sheep Parts From Central Asia

Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, a Montana rancher, pleaded guilty March 12 to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and to violating the Lacey Act by illegally importing wildlife from Kyrgyzstan, DOJ announced. Schubarth worked for nearly a decade as part of a scheme to "create giant sheep hybrids" in the U.S. with the goal of selling them to "captive hunting facilities," DOJ said. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000.

The defendant owned and operated Sun River Enterprises, known as Schubarth Ranch, in Vaughn, Montana. The ranch buys, sells and breeds "alternative livestock," including mountain sheep, goats and "various ungulates." From 2013 to 2021, Schubarth worked with at least five other individuals to create a larger hybrid species of sheep.

Schubarth imported, "without declaring the importation," parts of sheep from Kyrgyzstan, DOJ said. The Marco Polo argali sheep are native to the Pamir region of Central Asia and protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Schubarth sent genetic material from the sheep parts to a "lab to create cloned embryos" to implant in ewes on his ranch, DOJ said. Schubarth falsely declared that the sheep were legally permitted species on veterinary inspection certificates.