NEED TO KNOW
McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys star Steven McBee Sr. has been sentenced to two years behind bars after being found guilty in a multi-million dollar crop insurance fraud case.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough presided over the sentencing in the Kansas City, Mo., district court on Thursday, Oct. 16, where he ordered McBee, 52, to 24 months in prison and another two years on supervised release thereafter, according to the court’s text order entered on the public docket. The reality star will also pay $4,022,124 in restitution.
McBee must self-surrender before 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1.
Prior to his sentencing, McBee was facing up to 30 years in federal prison without parole.Prosecutors had asked that he be sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by three years supervised release and pay $4 million in restitution along with a $3.1 million money judgment, which, per legal documents filed Oct. 6 and viewed by PEOPLE, the government argued “represents the defendant’s gain from the criminal conduct.”
Attorneys for the McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys star requested that he be sentenced to supervised release.
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The Oct. 16 sentencing was originally slated for March but was rescheduled several times.
McBee pled guilty to one count of federal crop insurance fraud in November of 2024.
According to a Department of Justice press release, the McBee Farming Operations owners admitted to making a false report to Rain and Hail, a company reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and confessed to sending “fraudulent documents to Rain and Hail that underreported his total 2018 corn crop by approximately 674,812 bushels and underreported his total 2018 soybean crop by approximately 155,833 bushels.”
The falsified reports allowed McBee to receive $2,605,943 in federal crop insurance benefits in addition to $552,980 in federal crop insurance premium subsidies. In total, he received $3,158,923 in unauthorized benefits, per the release.
The DOJ claimed McBee’s fraud caused the government to lose $4,022,123 — the same amount prosecutors requested McBee pay in restitution.
In September, the father of four was ordered to hand over three designer watches to the government while he awaited sentencing, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
The order cited a U.S. code that allows a court to order defendants to forfeit “all property, real and personal, constituting, or derived from, proceeds traceable to the offenses, directly or indirectly, as a result of the violations alleged.”
Per the filing, “The United States has located assets belonging to the defendant Steve A. McBee that were not directly obtained through the offenses alleged in the Information.”
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The watches — a Tag Heuer Formula 1 watch, a Tag Heuer Grand Carrera watch and a Rolex Daytona — served “as substitute assets in partial satisfaction of the money judgement” prosecutors said McBee owes.
Season 1 of The McBee Family Dynasty: Real Life Cowboys — which aired on Peacock before moving to Bravo for season 2 — offered a glimpse at the operations of McBee Farm and Cattle as part of the high-stakes world of farming and ranching in Missouri.
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In the first season, the ranch was “at a crossroads, poised to either soar to billion-dollar success or plunge into financial ruin pending a pivotal decision from a Venture Capital investment firm,” according to an official synopsis.
McBee’s “personal struggles threaten the stability of the family business,” the description continued. “With tensions mounting between Steve and his sons — Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer alum Steven Jr., Jesse and Cole — after an explosive affair, viewers can expect a rollercoaster ride of ambition and betrayal.”
McBee made an unexpected return to McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys in the Monday, Aug. 11 episode of the reality series.
