Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch depicts the real-life risks of Alaskan crab fishing, including the financial and physical perils of the gig, as well as the stark reality that death is not an uncommon occurrence on the job site. However, the popular reality TV show doesn’t quite catch everything.
For example, did you know that some show staffers got caught up in a drug smuggling scandal? Or how about the fact that so many of the captains and crew members have committed felonies, their rap sheets include everything from drug possession to assault and bank robbery? And none of that even mentions the biggest scandal of all: these guys don’t even eat a lot of crab!
Let’s dock the Sea Star, Time Bandit, and all the other boats to take a deep dive into one of the most controversial reality shows of all time. This is the untold truth of Deadliest Catch.
Elliott Neese has a drug problem
During season 11 of Deadliest Catch, then-Captain Elliott Neese abruptly handed over the helm of the Saga to first mate Jeff Folk and left his ship — leaving viewers wondering why he went AWOL. After rumors swirled in tabloids about his addiction problems, Neese himself tweeted in May 2015 that he’d entered a 60-day program at Passages Malibu for an undisclosed problem. He wrote that he’d “had issues,” but after his stay at Passages, had “a new outlook on things now.”
Unfortunately, the road to recovery was bumpy for Captain Elliott. In 2017, he revealed on Instagram that he’d apparently suffered a relapse, as he was celebrating “90 days clean.” Neese keeps a low profile on social media, posting sporadically to share pictures of his pet rabbits and sporting goods purchases, which he probably doesn’t buy from Sportsmans Warehouse. In 2019, he posted to Facebook a long rant against the retail chain for refusing to sell him an AR-10 firearm he claims to have placed on layaway. It’s possible that Neese may even return to the show that made him famous. In 2017, Deadliest Catch executive producer Decker Watson tweeted that he “tried like hell” to get the fisherman onto the 13th season of the show, but to no avail.
It seems Neese is a magnet for trouble. According to TMZ, he was served with a restraining order in 2012 for allegedly harassing Valerie Gunderson, the mother of his children. In her petition, Gunderson said she feared for her personal safety “in the event that Elliott ‘snaps’ so to speak.” She also claimed that during one incident in 2010, Neese got so angry that he destroyed her television — then burned her clothes in the fireplace.
Feleti Freddy Maugatai is a closet cage fighter, in a sense
Apparently, Feleti “Freddy” Maugatai has some mixed-martial arts ambitions. According to a criminal complaint obtained by TMZ, Maugatai got involved in a fight against a husband and wife team in the bathroom of the Grand Aleutian Hotel back in December 2011. Maugatai claims he was defending himself when he put the husband in a headlock and shoved the guy’s wife. Police arrested him, despite his story. He was later fired from his ship for an unrelated incident, but maybe he should look into bringing his untapped fighting prowess to the octagon. Each of his fights could be called “Deadliest Match!” Don’t deny it: you’d watch.
Jake Harris and his other deadliest pursuits
Jake Harris, son of the late Captain Phil Harris, has struggled mightily away from the Deadliest Catch cameras. According to People, Harris crashed his BMW in Seattle in February 2010 and fled the scene. Police later arrested Harris and charged him with hit and run, driving under the influence, and driving with a suspended license. Several months later, TMZ reported that Captain Derek Ray of Deadliest Catch ship Cornelia Marie summoned police because he suspected Harris was abusing drugs at sea. Authorities discovered “paraphernalia,” but no charges were filed.
In November 2016, Harris suffered a cracked skull and brain injuries in a robbery, per KIRO 7. A few months later, TMZ reported that Harris stole a car from a friend in Phoenix and was subsequently busted for possession of crystal meth and unauthorized Xanax pills. Harris then failed to show up in court in 2017 to face those charges, leading to a bench warrant for his arrest.
Flash forward to 2019, when Harris had a showdown with park rangers in Skagit County, Washington. According to TMZ, those authorities tried to pull over Harris in his RV, but instead he bolted, leading to a chase with state troopers. When they finally forced Harris to stop the vehicle, they noted signs of intoxication. A search uncovered a half ounce of heroin, drug paraphernalia, and a stolen shotgun. For charges related to that incident, Harris was sentenced to an 18-month prison term.
Joshua Tel Warner was a stick-up artist
Despite the variety and volume of crimes committed by Deadliest Catch cast members over the years, Joshua Tel Warner, who first appeared on the show in 2009, may be the biggest criminal of all. In 2010, police in Eugene, Oregon, arrested Warner for his alleged involved in a string of bank robberies. Law enforcement suspected him in a 2007 Washington Mutual heist, another at a Pacific Continental Bank in in April 2009… and then a second robbery at the same bank later that month.
Robbing banks and getting away with it necessarily involves laying low and keeping mum, but Warner didn’t do either of those things. In 2010, Oregon law enforcement officials noticed that this guy on Deadliest Catch was a dead ringer for the guy suspected in those bank jobs, and issued a warrant for his arrest. And according to Deadliest Catch cast members that spoke to TV station KVAL (via CBS News), Warner mentioned to them that being on a hit reality show was probably not the best way to keep his criminal past a secret. Just hours after the warrant was issued and shared with law enforcement agencies, police in East Peoria, Illinois, arrested Warner on December 31, 2009. A few months later, Warner stood trial and earned a sentence of nine-and-a-half years behind bars.
Sig Hansen spit on an Uber driver and kicked his car
On a much lighter, albeit still troubling note, Sig Hansen was also in the news around the time the abuse allegations resurfaced for allegedly flipping out on an Uber driver. According to The Seattle Times, the Uber ride went wrong when Hansen, his wife, stepdaughter, and son-in-law ordered a ride home from their booze-soaked celebration of Norwegian Independence Day. After some confusion over a cancelled ride order within the Uber app, and Hansen’s frustration with not being able to just pay cash for the ride, Hansen and his son-in-law allegedly “spat on the driver’s head and the back of the driver’s seat.” Hansen also allegedly “kicked the outside of the rear of the passenger side of the vehicle, causing a dent.”
Hansen was arrested at his home after a drunken confrontation with Seattle PD, but later — presumably less inebriated — apologized in multiple tweets for his actions, according to Seattle PI. “I am terribly sorry for my behavior and am very embarrassed by it,” Hansen tweeted. “I owe a bunch of people apologies, first and foremost to our Uber driver, who was just trying to get us home safely. I hope I can make that apology in person. I have no excuse, and accept responsibility for my actions.”
