LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- When ag reality television star Steve A. McBee is sentenced next month in Kansas City, Missouri, on crop insurance fraud, members of his family will not be subject to prosecution in connection to McBee's actions.

Sentencing for McBee, the owner of McBee Farming Operations and the star of the reality television series "The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys," is set for Sept. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Western Missouri. McBee runs the northwest Missouri farm along with his sons Steve Jr., Brayden, Cole and Jesse.

McBee pleaded guilty to crop insurance fraud at the end of 2024 and could face up to 30 years in prison without a chance of parole, because of what is a Class B felony.

As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. government agreed not to bring any additional charges against McBee, any of his farm entities or any member of his family in connection with the crop insurance fraud committed from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2020.

"If the defendant breaches this plea agreement, the United States retains the right to proceed with the original charges and any other criminal violations established by the evidence," the agreement states.

In addition, if McBee continues to cooperate, U.S. attorneys have agreed to recommend a sentence reduction.

However, the sentence McBee receives will hinge on what the court determines was the actual loss in the crop insurance fraud committed by McBee from 2018 to 2020.

Federal sentencing guidelines use a point system along with offense levels to determine sentences.

LOSS FROM FRAUD

The U.S. government has maintained that the loss amount from the McBee fraud was more than $3.5 million but less than $9.5 million, according to the plea agreement, which would result in an "18-level increase in the offense."

According to the plea agreement, McBee has "admitted his guilt and clearly accepted responsibility for his actions and has assisted authorities in the investigation or prosecution of his own misconduct by timely notifying authorities of his intention to enter a plea of guilty."

As a result, the U.S. government said McBee is entitled to a three-level reduction in his sentence. The government said it expects to recommend the adjustment at sentencing.

McBee is required to forfeit assets if needed to pay restitution and could be subject to a polygraph examination concerning the identification of and recovery of assets.

Prior to sentencing, the U.S. government will provide a report that may include information about McBee's background, character and conduct "including the entirety of his criminal activities. The defendant understands these disclosures are not limited to the count to which he has pleaded guilty."

The court is requiring both sides to submit sentencing memorandums by Aug. 31.

The court said in a previous hearing that there was a need for a sentence that reflects "the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law and to provide just punishment" for the offense.

As a result of the guilty plea, McBee may lose eligibility for farm programs under the terms of the plea agreement.

According to the U.S. attorney's office in the western district of Missouri, McBee admitted he engaged in "fraudulent activity" from 2018 to 2020 that caused an economic loss to USDA. McBee is required to pay about $3.2 million to the federal government. The total loss to USDA is about $4 million, though the federal government has disputed the total loss amount.

FILING FALSE CLAIMS

McBee admitted to filing a false report to Rain and Hail, a company reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, the U.S. attorney said in November 2024.

McBee submitted fraudulent documents to Rain and Hail that underreported his total 2018 corn crop by 674,812 bushels and underreported his total 2018 soybean crop by 155,833 bushels.

As a result of the false reports, McBee received about $2.6 million in insurance benefits that he was not entitled to, as well as about $553,000 in federal crop insurance premium subsidies.

"McBee admitted that his farming operation sold more than 1.2 million bushels of corn and nearly 416,000 bushels of soybeans to another party in 2018," the U.S. attorney's office said.

However, McBee's crop insurance records show his farming operations produced just 340,476 bushels of corn and 190,171 bushels of soybeans, according to court records.

In addition, McBee admitted he committed additional fraud in 2019 and 2020.

At that time, according to court records, McBee provided false information to Rain and Hail to obtain insurance for the McBee farming operation's 2019 soybean crop by misrepresenting that soybeans were the first crop in certain fields when wheat had already been harvested from those fields.

The crop insurance policy only allowed insurance coverage on the first crop planted on a piece of land during a given crop year. As a result of the double crop during the 2019 crop year, McBee was paid federal crop insurance benefits that he was not entitled to receive.

McBee also provided false information when he obtained crop insurance through NAU Country Insurance in 2020, according to court documents.

McBee's farming operation planted corn after the last planting date in 2020, which made the crop ineligible for insurance.

Read more on DTN:

"McBee Sentencing Moved to September," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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