‘Alaskan Bush People’: Billy Brown Speaks Out About Why He Pleaded Guilty

Back in January, Billy Brown, the patriarch of the family featured on Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People, made a statement that many saw as an apology for his actions related to charges of receiving Alaska Permanent Funds dividends based on false information he provided on applications for the payments. Now, in a video posted to YouTube earlier this week by Discovery Channel, the Alaskan Bush People star states that he never felt he did nothing wrong and that he pleaded guilty only to protect his family.

In October of 2014, the Alaskan Bush People family received letters from the state of Alaska accusing them of providing false information on their state dividend applications. Billy Brown described the experience as heartbreaking.

The Alaskan Bush People patriarch had this to say about the charges and the state they call home.

“Alaska to us was a salvation. It laid out in front of us a freedom that we had dreamed of. It was only a dream until we set foot into this country. Alaska gave us all of that. I would never cheat Alaska.”

As a result of the charges, most members of the Alaskan Bush People family faced a possible prison sentence. Billy says he knew he had done nothing wrong but didn’t want to put his family in jeopardy and so “gave them what they wanted.” Fans of Alaskan Bush People wondered about the fate of the family as news trickled out about the charges. In the end, Billy just wanted to get it behind them.

As reported by ABC News, the statement released by the Alaskan Bush People patriarch at the time read, “Alaska’s dividend program has specific requirements for the length of time in the state, and the reasons for being out of Alaska. Because of the way we live our lives and the way we often unconventionally travel, I didn’t keep good track of our movements. I accept full responsibility for filing for benefits without confirming that we met the requirements. We are committed to living in Alaska for the long term and we respect the state’s rules. I thought it best to settle to put this behind us.”

The newly-posted video sheds some light on this statement, however, and it turns out that it really was not meant as an apology. The Alaskan Bush People patriarch simply wanted to put the charges and the stress it brought to his family behind them.

He explains it in the video like this.

“It’s the lesser of two evils is the way I looked at it. It was sign the statement, and it’s over, and my family is left alone. Don’t sign the statement, they’re just going to keep this dragging on and on and on.”

He also says that he begged officials to just let him serve time, but that they insisted on another Alaskan Bush People family member suffering consequences of the charges of which they had been found guilty. Joshua (“Bam”) insisted that the family member be him.

In the video that the Discovery Channel posted about the experience of the Alaskan Bush People, Billy talks about his anger at what he sees as an infringement on his freedom to travel as he wishes.

“Nobody used to care where we went, what we did. It was every American’s God-given right to live however they wanted to live. Independent – that’s America, man. That’s Browntown now to me.”

https://www.facebook.com/alaskanbushppl/posts/1296490917031876

The Alaskan Bush People father and son were sentenced to 30 days of jail time each. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, they applied for and were granted the ability to serve that time on home incarceration instead of in a prison facility.

Take a look at the video below.

[Image via Discovery Channel]