HOLY CROP! Bravo star Steve McBee sentenced to 2 years in prison and ordered to pay $4 million for insurance fraud scheme

BRAVO star Steve McBee has been sentenced to prison for his role in a multi-million dollar crop insurance fraud scheme.

The sentencing comes one day after Steve’s show, which closely follows his family business, The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys, was renewed by Bravo for a third season.

Steve, 52, pleaded guilty to the fraud scheme in November 2024, but his legal team delayed his sentencing hearing multiple times.

However, his day in court finally came on Thursday, where he faced up to 3 years in federal prison and over $4 million in restitution payments.

He appeared at the Western District of Missouri courthouse in Kansas City on Thursday as Bravo cameras appeared to document the outcome.

The Gallatin, MO, farmer received 24 months in prison and two years of supervised release thereafter from U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough, who has been overseeing the case.

Additionally, Steve must pay $4,022,124 in restitution.

The court ordered Steve to self-surrender before 2 p.m. on Monday, December 1.

BIG PRICE TO PAY

While he was facing up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors requested the judge sentence Steve to 41 months, according to court documents filed on October 6th.

The prosecution team also requested that the McBee family patriarch pay $4 million in restitution to the USDA and asked for three years of supervised release.

Following a drawn-out court battle, Steve pleaded guilty and admitted to engaging in fraudulent activity from 2018 to 2020 that caused an “economic loss to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

The farmer admitted that he made a false report to Rain and Hail, a company reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, and submitted fraudulent documents to the business.

During the court hearings, Steve admitted that he underreported his total 2018 corn crop by approximately 38 million pounds and underreported his total 2018 soybean crop by approximately 9.5 million pounds.

As a result of Steve’s false reports, he got over $3 million in insurance benefits from the combined reporting fraud, which he will now have to repay in addition to the lump sum of restitution.

Steve must forfeit to the government that entire $3,158,923, which is not part of the restitution that he also now owes.

In addition to the fraud felony charge from 2018, to which he pleaded guilty in November, Steve had also admitted that he committed additional fraud in 2019 and 2020.

Steve confessed to providing false information to Rain and Hail to obtain insurance for the McBee Farming Operation’s 2019 soybean crop.

As a result of the farm’s double-cropping tactic during the 2019 crop year, Steve was paid federal crop insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.

He also provided false information when he obtained crop insurance through NAU Country Insurance in 2020.

According to court documents, Steve’s farming operation planted corn after the last planting date in 2020, which made the crop ineligible for insurance.

He provided false planting dates on crop insurance documents to NAU Country Insurance and, as a result, received federal crop insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.

DYNASTY DOWN
Steve is the patriarch of the McBee family, which includes his ex-wife Kristi McBee and their four sons: Steven ‘Steve’ Jr., Jesse, Cole, and Brayden.

Their show, The McBee Dynasty, also includes the spouses of the sons, such as Jesse’s wife, Alli Ventresca, and Cole’s girlfriend, Kacie Adkison.

Speaking out ahead of his dad’s sentencing, Steve admitted that he was “nervous” for the future of his family.

“I’m definitely scared, nervous, anything, and everything. We love him so much, and love our family unit.

“So, to picture him not being here with us for any amount of time, it’s scary,” he told Bravo’s Daily Dish in September.

“We’re focusing on the positive things we have going, of which there are so many, but I’d be lying if I said that black cloud hasn’t been hanging over us every second of every day since we first found out.

“We’re ready to get past that day, deal with whatever comes of it, and move on, to say the least.

“We know no matter what, if we stick together as a family, we’ll make it through anything,” he added.

The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys, which originally aired on the USA Network but has since been moved to Bravo and Peacock, is currently in production for season three.