Montana District Judge Brian Morris said he had "thought hard" to decide the appropriate sentence for Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, 80, in the case of creating giant hybrid sheep. According to The Guardian , Judge Morris said that after considering Mr Schubarth's age and clean record, the court proposed a sentence of six months in prison in the hope of deterring and preventing anyone from trying to change the genetic structure of living things on earth.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
National Park Service
According to court documents, Mr. Schubarth was the owner of Sun River Enterprises LLC, a 215-acre ranch in Vaughn, Montana, where he was involved in the purchase, sale and breeding of animals including mountain sheep and mountain goats, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice .
In March, Mr. Schubarth pleaded guilty to two felony charges. He was accused of conspiring with five others to create a larger hybrid sheep between 2013 and 2021 to earn higher prices from private hunting grounds, where individuals could pay to hunt game. He was charged with conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, and then violating the act. The U.S. Lacey Act is intended to combat illegal trade in plants and animals.
Schubarth brought parts of the world 's largest sheep - the Marco Polo - from Kyrgyzstan to Montana, but did not declare the import. The largest rams can weigh more than 300 pounds and have horns longer than 5 feet, the US Department of Justice said. The animals are protected worldwide as an endangered species and are banned in Montana to protect native sheep.
According to the Justice Department, Schubarth sent the sheep's genetic material to a lab to clone the embryos and then implant them into ewes on his farm. The result was a single, purebred Marco Polo Argali ram that he named "Montana Mountain King," or MMK.
The animal was later seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and transferred to a zoo, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Richard Bare.
"I will have to work for the rest of my life to make up for everything I did," Mr Schubarth told the judge just before he was sentenced.
In addition to serving six months in prison, 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.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lanh-6-thang-tu-vi-lai-tao-cuu-khong-lo-de-san-ban-185241004103713913.htm
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