Steven “Steve” McBee Sr. was thrust into the limelight during season 1 of The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys — but soon his legal woes were making headlines.
Fans met Steve and his four sons, Steven McBee Jr., Jesse McBee, Cole McBee and Brayden McBee, during the first season of the reality show in 2024 as they took viewers inside their lives running McBee Farm & Cattle in Missouri. Once the cameras stopped rolling, tragedy struck the family after Steve pleaded guilty in November 2024 for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud scam using federal crop insurance.
During season 2 of the Bravo series, Steven took over the farm and slowly let his brothers in on their big secret: their father was under FBI investigation.
Scroll down for everything we know about Steve’s legal issues:
When Did Fans Last See Steve on ‘The McBee Dynasty’?
During the season 1 finale, which aired in March 2024, CFO Galyna Saltkovska told Steve that she failed to secure a deal with investors to expand their carwash business. The pair’s romantic relationship also reached a breaking point that led Steve to drink too much at their annual post-harvest farming celebration.
When the episode came to an end, Steven informed his brothers, “We’re on our own. Dad’s leaving. All he said is, he has no idea when he’s going to be back. He said he’s not in the right mental state to be running this farm.”
When Was He Charged — And What Did He Allegedly Do?
In November 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Missouri announced in a press release that Steve was charged with one count of federal crop insurance fraud. Steve was accused of making a false report to insurance provider Rain and Hill in 2018, where he underreported his “corn crop by approximately 674,812 bushels” and “his total 2018 soybean crop by approximately 155,833 bushels,” per the DOJ.
Steve allegedly received more than $2.6 million in federal crop insurance benefits plus an additional $552,000 in federal crop insurance premium subsidies after providing the false numbers.
The DOJ further claimed that Steve committed fraud in 2019 and 2020. He allegedly misrepresented that his soybean crops were “the first crop in certain fields” in 2019, when he was also using the same space to grow wheat. When he allegedly decided to double crop, the DOJ argued he was “not entitled” to the insurance claim he filed.
In 2020, Steve allegedly planted corn after the last planting date that year and then gave NAU Country Insurance “false plant dates” to fraudulently obtain a new insurance policy.
The McBee Dynasty brothers vowed to show “the good, the bad, the ugly” on their reality show — including their unfiltered reactions to dad Steve McBee’s FBI investigation. “It’s really, really tough because that is constantly at the forefront of your mind, no matter what you’re doing,” eldest son Steven McBee Jr. exclusively told Us […]
Did He Plead Guilty?
Steve pleaded guilty in November 2024, confessing that his farm sold “more than 1.2 million bushels of corn and nearly 416,000 bushels of soybeans” to another party in 2018, according to the press release.
According to the press release, Steve signed a plea deal where he agreed to pay restitution that will be determined by the court. The government allegedly lost more than $4 million and is estimated to own more than $3.1 million in restitution.
When Will He Be Sentenced?
Steve waived his right to a grand jury when he signed his plea deal in November 2024. He is currently facing up to 30 years in a federal prison without parole. His sentencing is slated for September.
How Did ‘The McBee Dynasty’ Explain His Season 2 Absence?
During the season 2 premiere in June, which filmed in late summer 2024, the cast talked about Steve, but he wasn’t on the show. “He just up and skipped town,” employee Tessa told the cameras of her boss during the episode. Later in the season, the boys said Steve was traveling with his new girlfriend, Masha, internationally.
How Did Steve’s Family Learn About the FBI Investigation?
Galyna let it slip during season 2, episode 3, that Steve was under investigation by the FBI. At the time, his eldest son, Steven, confirmed that only he, Galyna, and Steve’s ex-wife, Kristi McBee, knew about the investigation. “My dad is under FBI investigation, and you are the only one, and my mom that even knows this is going on. So, this has to stay between us,” Steven told Galyna during the episode, which aired in July.
Steven then told the cameras, “This FBI investigation is wearing on my dad. He didn’t want anything with his involvement affect[ing] any of us boys. My brothers don’t even know about it.”
Steven’s now-ex girlfriend Calah Jackson revealed during season 2, episode 6, that he confided in her about Steve’s legal troubles.
Steven’s younger brothers eventually learned about the scandal while taping season 2. “It was a shell shock just seeing the weight that Steven had been [dealing with],” Jesse exclusively told Us Weekly in July. “It made a lot of things make a lot more sense, just the way that Steven was stressed out and we were trying to figure out why we thought we knew all of his stresses, and obviously he was holding that in and bearing that weight on his shoulders.”
PEACOCK The McBee Dynasty star Steven “Steve” McBee has pleaded guilty to a multimillion-dollar fraud scam using federal crop insurance. According to a November 5 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Missouri, McBee, 52, was charged with one count of federal crop insurance fraud. The McBee Farming Operations owner allegedly received […]
What Have Steve’s Sons Said About His Trial and Fate?
Since Steve pleaded guilty to the insurance scam, the family has welcomed two new members. Cole and his girlfriend, Kacie Adkison, welcomed their first baby, daughter Blair, in December 2024. Jesse and his wife, Alli Ventresca, welcomed their daughter, Summer, in April.
While the family is worried about Steve’s fate, Jesse and Steven exclusively told Us in July that they are focusing on the little moments.
“We’ve leaned into family. We take it day by day,” Steven said. “The situation is still ongoing. We’re hoping to have it wrapped up and have some finality to it before the end of the year. That’s the goal, just so we can move on and say, ‘OK, we’ve got this figured out. We can start life again now.’”
He added, “The hard part about it is it’s so unknown. We don’t know what it’s going to look like, so we’re preparing. We’re eating dinner together as a family with my dad, including my mom driving up to the farm three to four nights a week, enjoying the time with the grand babies. Just really cherishing time as a family because we don’t know what it’s going to look like afterwards.”
The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
