A Montana man who concocted an elaborate plot to clone an enormous overseas sheep species will spend time behind bars for his baaaaaaaad habits.

Arthur “Jack” Schubarth was sentenced to 6 months in jail on Monday, and also will should pay $24,200 in fines. The scheme concerned importing elements of an endangered, and unlawful, species of central Asian sheep, which Schubarth used to make a clone. Marco Polo argali sheep (Ovis ammon polii) are the biggest sheep on the planet, they usually get large—very, very large. Males can high the scales at 300 kilos (136 kilograms), with horns that stretch so long as 5 toes (1.5 meters). Schubarth’s plan wasn’t to create a wool sweater empire. As an alternative, he wished to create a brand new breed of much more gigantic sheep, simply to kill them.

Whereas human cloning is unlawful in the US, the identical isn’t true for animals. Schubarth’s crimes have been extra about buying and disseminating the genetic materials used within the cloning than the cloning itself. In March, Schubarth pleaded responsible to 2 felonies: conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and substantively violating the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act, enacted in 1900, regulates the importation of wildlife that could possibly be dangerous to human beings, agriculture, or native wildlife of the US.

In line with a Justice Division press launch asserting the sentencing, Schubarth, together with no less than 5 different individuals, had imported elements of Marco Polo specimens into the U.S. from Kyrgyzstan, with out declaring them. A kind of unnamed conspirators might have been Schubarth’s son. In line with a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors, Schubarth’s son traveled to Kyrgyzstan in 2013, killed an argali sheep, and introduced again “viable tissue” for cloning. Between 2013 and 2021, the group used a genetics lab to create cloned embryos from that tissue. That resulted within the creation of a single male argali sheep, which Schubarth named Montana Mountain King, or MMK.

Schubarth and his conspirators then extracted semen from the Montana Mountain King, which they used to impregnate females from different sheep species, which have been additionally unlawful to maintain in Montana, creating hybrids. The aim, the Justice Division stated, was to create a brand new, even bigger, species of sheep that might be bought to captive looking amenities, which have been largely positioned in Texas.

As outlandish because it sounds, the plan labored—no less than, till Schubarth was caught. The huge mutton mammals have been shipped out and in of Montana, utilizing cast veterinary inspection certificates. Schubarth was additionally promoting MMK semen to different breeders. In complete, unlawful gross sales have been accomplished to shoppers in 12 states.

“It was not a spur-of-the-moment or one-off crime,” prosecutors wrote within the sentencing memo. “It was a understanding, deliberate crime that Schubarth undertook, regardless of understanding that his actions have been violating state and federal legislation.”

“Schubarth not solely violated federal and state legislation and worldwide treaties, however he and others illegally conspired to hide their actions from authorities,” stated Justice Division Assistant Lawyer Basic Todd Kim. “Violations of the Lacey Act, CITES and different legal guidelines will be devastating for our home populations of untamed animals, which is why we’re unwavering in our dedication to implement them.”

In case you’re questioning why Marco Polos are unlawful in the US, it’s not due to issues they’d intimidate different, smaller breeds. The Justice Division stated Schubarth’s scheme put native sheep vulnerable to illness, and two sheep that handed by way of Schubarth’s ranch throughout the time interval in query died from Johne’s illness, a contagious losing illness. We don’t know if the prospect of decimating native sheep species left Schubarth feeling sheepish.