NEED TO KNOW
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Steve McBee Sr. celebrated his last Thanksgiving before he heads to prison on Dec. 1
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On the holiday, the reality star shared a video of himself walking through his Gallatin, Mo., ranch
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McBee was sentenced to two years in prison in a crop insurance fraud case in October
Steve McBee Sr. celebrated his last Thanksgiving on his ranch before he has to report to prison on Dec. 1.
On Thursday, Nov. 27, the McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys patriarch, 53, posted a video to Instagram of himself wishing his followers a happy Thanksgiving as he took a walk through his Gallatin, Mo., property.
“Another beautiful fall — almost winter — crisp day,” McBee said in the video. “With the sun shining, it feels good. We’re all so blessed to have the things we have in life. You got to count your blessings, certainly when you look around the world and at the country we live in and just our homes, our jobs, everything that we have in life. We are so fortunate and blessed.”
“I hope everybody has a great day with their family and gets a little time to relax and think and all that good stuff,” he continued. “Last walk in the woods here around the ranch, and it couldn’t be prettier. It’s like picture made. I’ll never get enough of nature and spending time in it. Hope you guys have a happy thanksgiving.”
McBee was ordered to self-surrender to federal prison in Yankton, S.D., before 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1. He recently told PEOPLE that he and his family will drive to Yankton on Sunday and stay the night “so they can see the town and get comfortable with everything.”
“I feel like there’s so many things to get ready, so I’ve just been in this panic mode trying to make sure I thought of everything,” he said. “There’s going to be loose ends that fall through the cracks, but I would say the lion’s share of all major items have been covered. I mean, it’s definitely been an experience I never thought I would have.”
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Steven McBee Sr.
In his last few days of freedom, McBee said he’s trying to stay “optimistic.”
“I’ve never been a victim, nor will I be a victim, and I’m not going to let anybody make me a victim,” he said. “I’ve always believed the glass is half full. Life isn’t fair sometimes for no reason at all. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. I’m going to be okay, and I’m going to continue to work hard. I’m just going to make the best of a bad situation.”
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He is also ready to put the past behind him.
“Obviously, we hope for the best and pray for the best, but the storm is finally clearing,” he said. “A captain doesn’t become a skilled captain on calm water, they learn how to navigate through storms. this was certainly a level five hurricane, but when the storm breaks, you smell the fresh, clean air. We’re starting to come out of that, so I’m feeling a lot better.”
Emerson Miller/PEACOCK via Getty
Steven McBee Sr. and the McBee family for ‘The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys’
McBee was sentenced to two years behind bars in October. The sentencing came almost one year after he pleaded guilty to one count of federal crop insurance fraud in November 2024. McBee was also ordered to pay $4,022,124 in restitution.
McBee admitted to sending “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,” according to a Department of Justice press release. Rain and Hail is a crop insurance company that works with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to offer farmers federally reinsured policies.
The falsified reports allowed McBee to receive a total of $3,158,923 in unauthorized benefits, per the release. The DOJ claimed the government lost $4,022,123 as a result of McBee’s fraud, which is the same amount prosecutors requested McBee pay in restitution.
McBee was ordered to turn in three of his designer watches in September, as he awaited sentencing, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
The order cited a U.S. code that allows a court to forfeit “all property, real and personal, constituting, or derived from, proceeds traceable to the offenses, directly or indirectly, as a result of the violations alleged.”
Per the filing, “The United States has located assets belonging to the defendant Steven A. McBee that were not directly obtained through the offenses alleged in the Information.”
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