Chip Hailstone went to jail after being convicted in Alaska of felony perjury and making false statements to authorities, tied to allegations he made about how law enforcement and a local resident treated his family.

What he was accused of

Chip’s legal trouble traces back to incidents around 2011 in Noorvik, Alaska, involving his teenage daughter and other locals. He told authorities that:

  • An Alaska State Trooper (Christopher Bitz) assaulted his 17‑year‑old daughter by putting her in a submission hold during an encounter.
  • In a separate altercation, a Noorvik resident allegedly pointed a rifle at his daughter after a conflict involving his stepson.

Chip also sought a protective or temporary order against the trooper, claiming he was stalking and threatening his family.

Why he was convicted

Alaska prosecutors argued that key parts of Chip’s sworn statements about these events were not true. In court, he was:

  • Convicted on two counts of felony perjury (lying under oath).
  • Convicted of giving false information to authorities or in official proceedings.

The court concluded that he had falsely described the trooper’s actions and the situation with the Noorvik resident, treating this as a serious attempt to mislead the justice system.

Chip and his defense have consistently maintained that his testimony was accurate and that recordings used in the case were incomplete or tampered with, but the judge denied motions for a new trial and his appeals were unsuccessful.

His sentence and time in jail

Once all appeals were exhausted, Chip received a custodial sentence in 2017. Key points:

  • Sentenced to about 15 months in jail at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
  • Given an additional three years of probation following release.

This is why he disappeared from several episodes of Life Below Zero ; the show had to film without him while he served his sentence.

Is there any “latest news”?

Since serving his time, most coverage focuses on:

  • His return to subsistence life in Noorvik and appearance again on Life Below Zero.
  • Retrospective explainers and forum-style articles revisiting “why did Chip Hailstone go to jail” as a trending topic rather than reporting new criminal issues.

There is no widely reported new arrest or fresh major legal case involving him as of the latest public write‑ups; current chatter is mostly recaps of the same perjury case and its impact on the show.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.