Power Rangers Actor Arrested For Alleged Conspiracy
An actor from the classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television program has been arrested on charges of conspiracy.
Power Ranger actor Austin St. John has been arrested for conspiracy to commit wire fraud at his home in McKinney, Texas. The actor and paramedic is most well known for being the original Red Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the early 1990s FOX Kids television program. He has returned to the franchise several times in the past and is a regular on the fan convention circuit. However, currently, he is one of 18 individuals indicted by law enforcement as having executed a plan to fraudulently receive funds from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, which provides Covid-19 relief for small businesses.
Austin St. John has not appeared in a Power Ranger franchise project since 2020, when he made a cameo on Power Rangers Beast Morphers. While he has continued acting as an adult, including in the Christian faith-based films A Walk with Grace and A Gift of The Heart, he also worked as a paramedic in the Washington D.C. area for many years and as a martial arts instructor. According to the US Department of Justice, the former Power Ranger was part of a group of individuals who either set up businesses or used existing businesses to fraudulently apply for Covid relief funds, which were then used for personal expenses.
Allegedly, two individuals named Michael Hill and Andrew Moran masterminded the scheme, which included the former Power Rangers actor. The two recruited people into the alleged conspiracy, provided them with fake documentation for businesses (or helped them falsify documents for non-existent businesses), and assisted them in submitting applications to the Paycheck Protection Program. According to the charges, upon receiving funds from the SBA, the indicted conspirators either paid Hill and Moran or kept the funds for their own personal use rather than the stated use, such as paying employees. Also according to the charges from the US Department of Justice, the alleged individuals may have received up to 16 different loans and as much as $3.5 million dollars.
If convicted on the charges, the conspirators each may face up to 20 years in prison. This includes Austin St. John, which would almost certainly have an effect on his ability to continue appearing in the Power Rangers franchise. Oddly, this is not the first that an actor who has played a Red Power Ranger has been involved in accusations of a serious crime.
In 2017, Ricardo Medina Jr., who played the Red Power Ranger in Power Rangers Wild Force (as well as Deker, the Half-Human cursed Nighlok in Power Rangers Samurai) was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for stabbing his roommate Joshua Sutter to death with medieval “Conan the Barbarian” sword. Medina Jr. claimed that he had done this in self-defense after Sutter had attempted forced entry of Medina Jr.’s bedroom following an argument. The Power Rangers actor pled guilty and was sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of six years. He was released from prison in 2020. Austin St. John’s case is ongoing and we will update with more information as we receive it.
