Reality TV Star Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Crop Insurance Fraud

On October 16, 2025, Bravo announced it had renewed the reality series "McBee Dynasty" for a third season. However, the same day, the show's central figure, Steve McBee Sr., was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 2 years of supervised release for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar crop insurance fraud scheme.

According to court documents, the 52-year-old former CEO of McBee Farm & Cattle had pleaded guilty to making false reports to an insurance provider in 2018, underreporting his corn and soybean crops by hundreds of thousands of bushels. This allowed him to illegally receive over $2.6 million in federal crop insurance benefits and an additional $552,000 in subsidies.

McBee was also accused of committing further fraud in 2019 and 2020 by misrepresenting his soybean crops. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay $4,022,124 in restitution. He now faces a mandatory self-surrender to federal authorities by December 1, 2025.

The "McBee Dynasty" reality show, which premiered in 2024, has continued to follow the McBee family's farming operations, including Steve's sons who have taken over the business. However, Steve's legal troubles have been a central storyline in the show's second season.