Below is a related article from a similar show. The people
portrayed in the program are not actually legal residents of Alaska. Here, they broke the law by filing for Permanent Fund Dividends--which are for legal AK residents.
The Permanent Fund dividend is for
residents of Alaska that have lived here for a couple years and they are
actual residents of the state as in
residence, drivers license, and pay property taxes. Those that stake a claim and are here on temporary basis are not eligible.
From the Article about the Alaskan Bush People:
Two members of a family that stars on the Discovery Channel show
“Alaskan Bush People” have agreed to plead guilty to lying on Permanent Fund dividend applications. The family must repay the state thousands of dollars under the proposal.
Billy Brown, 62, and his son Joshua Brown, 31, agreed to repay the state for dividends they received despite failing to meet residency requirements, and to serve two years of probation, under a proposed plea agreement. They also must perform 40 hours each of community service that, a state judge emphasized, may not be filmed as part of a reality show.
“By submitting falsified PFD applications for myself and my children, I stole $7,956 from the people of Alaska,” Billy Brown wrote in a signed statement, included with the agreement.
The father and son are among six members of the Brown family
who were charged last year with dozens of counts of fraud and theft. Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg considered the proposed plea agreement at an afternoon hearing today in Juneau.
“PFD fraud is a serious matter. It’s a theft from everybody, every resident of the state of Alaska,” Pallenberg said. “In prior cases, prior cases that involved felony convictions, I think it’s an offense that deserves jail time.”
“I think there’s a high level of community condemnation for it,” he said.
The Discovery Channel series has traded on the image of remote and uniquely Alaskan lives of the cast members.
“Deep in the Alaskan wilderness lives a newly discovered family who was born and raised wild,”
Discovery announced ahead of the May 6 2014 series premiere.
“No comment,” Discovery communications director Sean Martin wrote in an email, when asked for his reaction to the indictment shortly after charges were filed.
Today, Billy Brown and Joshua Brown phoned into the Alaska criminal hearing from Seattle.
The proposal calls for each man to admit to one count of unsworn falsification, a misdmeanor. The judge has not yet decided whether to accept the agreement and will take up the matter at a second hearing tomorrow.
The charges involve family members providing false information on dividend applications that some members successfully received between 2010 and 2013.
“I left Alaska in October 2009 and did not return unitl August 2012,” Billy Brown wrote in a signed statement. “Contrary to what was stated on several Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) applications, I did not have a ‘principal’ place of abode’ on Mossman Island during the years 2009-13.”
The agreement calls for charges against four other members of the family --
Solomon Brown,
Gabriel Brown,
Noah Brown and Amora Brown – to be dismissed provided they perform certain duties such as paying about $3,000 each in restitution. The charges against those family members were multiple counts each of unsworn falsification and second-degree theft.
Under the agreement, Billy Brown must pay $7,956 in restitution and would have a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail, meaning he would not do any time behind bars if he fulfills two years of probation.
Joshua Brown – who admitted to helping family members file false information on applications online -- would be required to pay $1,174 to the Permanent Fund Dividend Division.
The hearing continues at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Juneau.
