Roxanne 
Steven McBee Sr., the patriarch of the reality show McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys, is headed to federal prison after pleading guilty in a multi-million dollar crop insurance fraud case.
On Thursday, October 16, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Bough sentenced McBee to 24 months behind bars followed by two years of supervised release, People reported. The sentencing took place in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to the prison time, McBee was ordered to pay $4,022,124 in restitution.
According to the official court text order, McBee, 52, must “self-surrender before 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1.” The former reality star had been facing as many as 30 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors pushed for a harsher sentence, asking the court to impose “41 months in prison followed by three years supervised release and pay $4 million in restitution along with a $3.1 million money judgment.” As noted in legal documents filed on October 6, the government argued that the $3.1 million represented “the defendant’s gain from the criminal conduct.”
McBee’s defense team had requested a much lighter sentence consisting of supervised release, but their efforts did not sway the court. The sentencing, originally scheduled for March, had been delayed multiple times before finally taking place in October.
Steve pled guilty in November 2024 to one count of federal crop insurance fraud. The Department of Justice revealed that McBee and others in his farming operation submitted false claims to Rain and Hail, an insurance company reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation.
The DOJ explained in a press release that Steve “sent 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.” These fabricated figures allowed McBee to receive $2,605,943 in federal crop insurance benefits, as well as $552,980 in premium subsidies—totaling $3,158,923 in unauthorized benefits.
The Justice Department stated plainly: “McBee’s fraud caused the government to lose $4,022,123,” aligning precisely with the restitution amount imposed by the court.
In a dramatic twist, Steve was also ordered in September to surrender three designer watches to the government. These items were seized under a U.S. statute allowing the forfeiture of assets “constituting, or derived from, proceeds traceable to the offenses.” The filing noted, “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.”
Steve Sr., a father of four, became a recognizable face thanks to his role on McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys, a reality series that spotlighted the daily life of a modern ranching family in Missouri. But off-screen, it appears the real drama was quietly unfolding in courtrooms and accounting offices.
