A St. Mary’s man has been sentenced to serve three years in federal prison for providing illegal guiding services and defrauding dozens of would-be moose hunters out of thousands of dollars.
According to court documents, beginning in 2021, 36-year-old Michael Beans used Facebook to advertise trophy hunts in the lower Yukon River area popular with sporthunters, despite not being a licensed guide.
Beans took in nearly $60,000 in fraudulent deposits, advance payments, and other fees from nearly 40 non-Alaska resident hunters using Venmo and other payment apps. He told hunters he would guide, outfit, provide meals, and transport hunters from St. Mary’s to a remote cabin on the Andreafsky River.
In September 2022, the first group of hunters who had paid for Beans’ services arrived in St. Mary’s, but were unable to locate him and canceled their hunts. That same month, three other hunters confronted Beans at his home and demanded his services. Beans ultimately served as a guide and transporter for two bull moose killed by the hunters.
Beans was indicted in 2023 for illegal guiding and receiving electronic payments across state lines from would-be hunters. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating wildlife provisions within the federal Lacey Act and one count of wire fraud. On May 5, a federal judge sentenced Beans on to three years in prison. He has also been ordered to pay more than $64,000 in restitution to 21 victims.
Beans is currently in custody at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, where he is serving an unrelated 30-year state prison sentence for felony sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor convictions from St. Mary’s that overlap with the timeline of the federal crimes. The first two years of Beans’ federal sentence will be served concurrent with his state time. The remaining year will need to be served after Beans has completed his sentence with the state of Alaska.
