Schubarths plan wasnt to create a wool sweater empire.
Instead, he wanted to create a new breed of even more gigantic sheep, just to kill them.
Schubarths crimes were more about acquiring and disseminating the genetic material used in the cloning than the cloning itself.
File photo showing the skulls of two Marco Polo sheep in the Wakhan Corridor of northeastern Afghanistan.© Scott Wallace (Getty Images)
One of those unnamed conspirators may have been Schubarths son.
Between 2013 and 2021, the group used a genetics lab to create cloned embryos from that tissue.
As outlandish as it sounds, the plan workedat least, until Schubarth was caught.
The massive mutton mammals were shipped in and out of Montana, using forged veterinary inspection certificates.
Schubarth was also selling MMK semen to other breeders.
In total, illegal sales were completed to clients in 12 states.
It was not a spur-of-the-moment or one-off crime, prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memo.
We dont know if the prospect of decimating native sheep species left Schubarth feeling sheepish.
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