LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Gallatin, Missouri, farmer and reality television star Steve A. McBee and his sons, Cole and Jesse, are scheduled for trial in a lawsuit alleging the father fraudulently transferred assets to his sons to avoid paying a court judgement in his crop insurance fraud case.

Steve A. McBee is serving a two-year prison sentence in South Dakota after the star of "The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys" pleaded guilty to crop insurance fraud.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri this week scheduled a jury trial for May 3, 2027, with a pretrial conference set for April 6, 2027, according to the court order. In May, the court designated a mediator in the case as well.

U.S. attorneys contend McBee transferred assets to the trusts for his sons, Cole and Jesse, to avoid surrendering the assets. The family has argued in court filings the trusts were created more than a decade before a transfer of assets was made in 2014 and were an established practice of the trusts.

DTN reached out to the family's attorney seeking comment.

The U.S. government filed the lawsuit alleging Steve A. McBee became aware of the crop insurance fraud investigation in June 2023, and his attorneys met with U.S. attorneys in December 2023.

The complaint filed by the government said that on Jan. 7, 2024, McBee transferred the assets "anticipating a criminal conviction."

McBee transferred his ownership interests in three companies to his sons Jesse and Cole.

That includes 39% interest in McBee Properties L.C.; 99% interest in Rock Bluff Development LLC; and 99% interest in S&K Enterprises LLC. According to the lawsuit, Steve McBee split those interests evenly between Jesse and Cole.

The federal government alleges the transfers occurred while McBee was under federal investigation and he received no payment in exchange.

The federal government's lawsuit includes six claims for fraudulent conveyance under both federal and Missouri state law. The U.S. argues the transfers were made with actual intent to defraud the federal government, and the transfers were made without equivalent value when McBee knew he would face debts he couldn't pay.

In addition, the government asked the court to file an injunction preventing anyone from selling, mortgaging or disposing of the business assets.

The U.S. is also seeking money judgements against Jesse McBee and Cole McBee, for the value of the transferred interests.

As part of Steve McBee's plea agreement, the U.S. government agreed not to charge anyone in his family with crop insurance fraud.

For more background on this case: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

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

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