Montana
Montana man pleads guilty to wildlife trafficking charges in scheme to clone sheep
(CNN) — Over the course of nearly a decade, a Montana ranch owner and at least five other people conspired to clone sheep and create a larger hybrid species of what is already considered the world’s largest sheep species for financial gain, according to federal prosecutors.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana, pleaded guilty to felony charges related to trafficking sheep parts from Asia into the United States – a violation of the Lacey Act – with an aim of selling the species to captive hunting facilities primarily in Texas, according to a news release from the US Department of Justice.
The Lacey Act prohibits “trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish or plants,” according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Schubarth faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two felony counts and up to a $250,000 fine. CNN has contacted an attorney listed for Schubarth for comment.
Between 2013 and 2021, Schubarth and others set out to create a larger hybrid species of the Marco Polo argali sheep with trafficked sheep parts from Kyrgyzstan to garner higher prices from shooting preserves, according to the Justice Department.
The sheep species, often trophy hunted for its size and long spiraling horns, is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act, according to court documents.
Marco Polo argali sheep, which can weigh more than 300 pounds and have horns spanning more than 5 feet, are banned in Montana “to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization,” according to the Justice Department.
Schubarth, who owned a 215-acre game farm where mountain sheep, mountain goats and other hoofed mammals were bought, sold, and bred, is the only person named in the court documents.
The five others involved are described in the documents as residents of Montana, Texas and Minnesota who were involved in alternative livestock husbandry and commercial livestock sales, according to court documents.
Schubarth is accused of conspiring to bring parts of the internationally and domestically protected Marco Polo argali sheep, which are native to Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains region, into the US without declaring the parts, court documents state. Schubarth is accused of engaging a third party to create a cloned argali sheep from the trafficked parts.
Schubarth’s farm – Sun River Enterprises, also known as Schubarth Ranch – mainly marketed and sold live animals and genetic material, like semen, to shooting preserves, court documents state.
He and co-conspirators allegedly performed artificial insemination and other types of artificial breeding to “create larger and more valuable lines of argali sheep,” according to the documents.
“The kind of crime we uncovered here could threaten the integrity of our wildlife species in Montana,” Ron Howell, chief of enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said in a statement.
In January 2013, the co-conspirator from Montana entered the US with undeclared biological tissue from a Marco Polo argali sheep that had been hunted in Kyrgyzstan, according to court documents.
Days later, Schubarth entered a cell storage agreement with a company to store and preserve the tissue from a male sheep named Rocky, according to the documents, which add that Schubarth entered an ovine cloning contract in October 2015 to have an unspecified number of sheep cloned from the tissue.
He received 165 cloned Marco Polo embryos in November 2016 at his ranch, the documents state. In May 2017, a pure male Marco Polo argali sheep was born from the embryos, and Schubarth named it Montana Mountain King.
In 2018, authorities say Schubarth began harvesting semen from Montana Mountain King to artificially inseminate ewes in hopes of creating hybrid offspring.
Using Montana Mountain King’s semen, Schubarth and co-conspirators artificially inseminated female sheep species that are also banned in Montana in an attempt to create hybrid animals, the Justice Department said.
Schubarth and others moved the illegal sheep into and out of Montana by forging veterinary inspection certificates, according to court documents.
Schubarth also violated Montana law by obtaining genetic material from the state’s Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, which are the largest native wild sheep species in North America, according to the court document. Montana prohibits game animal parts being sold there and also “prohibits the use of Montana game animals on alternative livestock ranches,” according to the Justice Department.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks are investigating the case. Schubarth is set to be sentenced on July 11.
Governor’s Office
HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today announced Montana ranks in the top ten states with the highest year-over-year job growth rates.
“Montana continues to rank as one of the best states to start or grow a business, earn a competitive wage, and secure a good-paying job,” Gov. Gianforte said. “As we continue to reform our regulatory environment to support job creators and cut taxes to give money back to the hardworking Montanans who earned it, we see the results of conservative policies at work as the Treasure State ranks in the top ten states with the strongest job growth.”
According to a report by Stat Ranker, which compared all 50 states based on year-over-year growth in total nonfarm payroll employment between February 2025 and February 2026, Montana ranked ninth in the nation for both jobs added and overall job growth adding more than 2,100 jobs over the year, representing a 0.4 percent job growth rate.
Last week, the governor attended the groundbreaking for Janicki Industries in Great Falls to celebrate the aerospace manufacturers’ investment expected to create more than 2,000 jobs over the next ten years and the ribbon cutting for Amazon’s sixth delivery station in Montana that brings the company’s total employment in the state to over 800.
Last month, the governor announced Montana was ranked in the top five states with the fastest-growing economies since 2021. The report from Visual Capitalist found that between 2021 and 2025, Montana’s GDP grew 16.1 percent while the national average in the same time period was 10.8 percent. When it comes to wage growth, Montana ranks third in the nation for fastest wage growth and is only one of two states in the nation where wage growth has outpaced inflation since 2020. The average wage earned by Montana workers reached $60,037 in 2024.
Earlier this year, Gov. Gianforte also announced Montana’s fiscal health surged into the top ten states nationally under his leadership, rising from 22nd in 2021 to 8th in 2025. Since taking office, the governor has paid off the state’s general obligation debt, making Montana debt-free in 2023 and saving Montanans $40 million over a period of two years.
Montana also consistently ranks in the top fifteen states with the lowest unemployment rates. Last month, the governor announced Montana’s unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4 percent in May, lower than the national unemployment rate which remained at 4.3 percent.
The full Stat Ranker report can be read here.
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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 14, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 14 drawing
02-04-10-48-56, Mega Ball: 22
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 14 drawing
15-20-26-27, Bonus: 02
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 14 drawing
12-13-15-16-41, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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