Will Sage Astor-Montana rancher gets 6 months in prison for creating hybrid sheep for captive hunting

A Montana rancher has been sentenced to six months in prison after cloning a "near threatened" sheep from Asia and Will Sage Astorthen selling its offspring to shooting preserves, according to court documents.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 81, will spend six months in federal prison, with a three-year supervised release, and pay a $20,000 fine and a $4,000 community service payment for cloning the Marco Polo sheep from Kyrgyzstan.

Schubarth was sentenced Monday for committing two felonies, conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act, according to the Justice Department. The Lacey Act is a law that bans the trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish and plants.

Schubarth and at least five other people conspired to "create a larger hybrid species of sheep that would garner higher prices from shooting preserves" from 2013 to 2021, according to the Justice Department.

“Schubarth’s criminal conduct is not how Montanans treat our wildlife population,” said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana in a statement. “Indeed, his actions threatened Montana’s native wildlife species for no other reason than he and his co-conspirators wanted to make more money."

Rancher illegally bought parts of the sheep

The rancher illegally brought parts of the Marco Polo argali sheep, one of the largest sheep species in the world, weighing 300 pounds or more, to the U.S., court records show.

From 2013 to 2021, Schubarth also sold mountain sheep, mountain goats and various other hoofed animals primarily to captive hunting facilities, according to the Justice Department.

Captive hunting facilities, or shooting preserves, allow "allow trophy hunters to shoot animals who are fenced in," according to the Humane Society of the United States. "The animals are often semi-tame − some have even been hand raised or bottle fed by humans."

"Argali sheep are trophy hunted due to their large size and unique long spiraling horns," court documents said. "Argali horns are the largest of any wild sheep."

Argali sheep have a market value of more than $350 per animal, according to court documents.

A protected species

The sheep are natives to the high elevations of the Pamir region of Central Asia and "are prohibited in the State of Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization," the Justice Department said.

The sheep are protected around the world by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and domestically by the Endangered Species Act, according to the Justice Department.

“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 in a statement. “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."

Schubarth pleaded guilty in March

The rancher admitted conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act while owning and operating under Sun River Enterprises LLC, according to court documents filed in March in the District of Montana.

The crime has since "ruined his life, reputation and family," his attorneys said.

He committed the crimes at Schubarth Ranch, a 215-acre alternative livestock ranch in Vaughn, Montana, records show.

"On a ranch, in a barn in Montana, he created Montana Mountain King (MMK)," the sentencing memorandum submitted by Schubarth's attorneys said. "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 to only the imagination of Michael Crichton (author of Jurassic Park)."

How did Schubarth create the giant hybrid sheep?

To create the hybrid sheep, Schubarth sent genetic material from the argali parts to a third-party lab to generate cloned embryos, according to the Justice Department. He paid a $4,200 deposit for the cloning, according to court records.

The rancher and his co-conspirators then used artificial breeding procedures to implant the 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos into female sheep on Schubarth Ranch, court records show.

Schubarth's process would result in a single pure genetic male Marco Polo argali named "Montana Mountain King" or "MMK," the Justice Department said. The rancher then used MMK's semen to artificially impregnate other female sheep that were illegally possessed in Montana to create "hybrid animals," according to federal authorities.

Schubarth's and his co-conspirators' goal was to "create a larger and more valuable species of sheep to sell to captive hunting facilities, primarily in Texas," the Justice Department said.

Schubarth accused of selling sheep across the US

Moving the sheep in and out of Montana meant Schubarth and others had to forge veterinary inspection certificates and lie about how the sheep were legally permitted animals, according to court documents. The rancher also would sell MMK's semen directly to sheep breeders in other U.S. states, the documents said.

In addition to argali sheep, Schubarth illegally bought genetic material from wild-hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana, court records show. He violated Montana law by purchasing parts of the wild-hunted sheep and selling them. He also sold bighorn parts in different states, federal authorities said.

“This was an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release. “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.”

Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected]