Mike Beans at sentencing | Alaska’s News Source / Gray Television
Well, if you thought the biggest problems you’d face after booking your dream Alaskan hunt would be something like big bears and bad weather, you might want to think again. For a few unlucky hunters, they learned the hard way that, in some cases, the scariest animals roaming the Alaskan wilderness do so on two feet with a cell phone in hand, and zero regard to licensing requirements.
A man by the name of Michael Beans, who fits the aforementioned description, is set to spend the next three years behind bars after being sentenced by federal prosecutors last week. After posing as a licensed big game guide and transporter, this master of low-effort larceny scammed nearly 37 hunters out of nearly $60 grand. He did so by pumping up make-believe bull moose hunts in remote Alaskan locales, collecting fat deposits months in advance (often with “discounts” for the eager marks), and then, acting just like my 10th grade crush, he completely ghosted them.
According to court documents, Beans began advertising guide-outfitter and transporter services for bull moose hunts back in October 2021, even though Alaska had never issued him any of the required licenses. His high-pressure sales tactics via text messages, phone calls and social media landed him over $59,000 worth of deposits between the fall of 2021 and December of 2022.
But before the courts got ahold of him, some of his “clients” decided to pursue him in the St. Mary’s area where one group in September 2021 stated they had flown in from across the country only to find their hunt cancelled. That group reported that Beans refused to meet with them face-to-face and only offered one of the hunters a $700 refund.
A couple of weeks later, a trio of persistent hunters decided to track him down after he cancelled on them as well. Bullying their way to an in-person meeting, they were one of the few that were successful in literally forcing Beans to take them on a hunt where they did manage to drop three bull moose (illegally taken, unbeknownst to them).
“Mr. Beans egregiously exploited unsuspecting hunters and orchestrated a hunt that resulted in the illegal killing of three bull moose,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. “His actions not only violate the law but are also an affront to the law-abiding guide-outfitters who respect Alaska’s wildlife community. My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners statewide to ensure that the regulations governing hunting in Alaska are enforced and upheld, and those who flagrantly violate them are brought to justice.”
Following a litany of complaints, Beans was finally arrested in April 2023 and initially faced two Lacey Act felonies and 19 counts of wire fraud.
The 36-year-old was sentenced on Wednesday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to one count of violating the Lacey Act and one count of wire fraud. In addition to the three-year prison term, he was ordered to pay $64,110 in restitution to his victims and will serve three years of supervised release upon his release.
“Mr. Beans egregiously exploited unsuspecting hunters and orchestrated a hunt that resulted in the illegal killing of three bull moose,” U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska said. “His actions not only violate the law but are also an affront to the law-abiding guide-outfitters who respect Alaska’s wildlife community. My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners statewide to ensure that the regulations governing hunting in Alaska are enforced and upheld, and those who flagrantly violate them are brought to justice.”
