One of the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” might be in big trouble with the law.
Actor Jason Lawrence Geiger, 47, who played the Red Ranger in the nerdy 1990s children’s show and its related films, has been arrested for his alleged role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain money from federal COVID-19 relief.
Geiger, whose stage name is Austin St. John, was one of 19 people charged in the scheme, which resulted in at least 16 fraudulent loans totaling $3.5 million, the US Attorney General announced this week. Eastern District of Texas.
The McKinney, Texas. The resident is accused of being part of a network that applied for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program using false information or fabricated documents, prosecutors said.
The network was run by Michael Hill aka ‘Tank’, 47, and NAdrew Moran, 43, who recruited others to use ‘an existing business or start a business’ to apply for the loans, as part of the Huge $349 Billion Federal CARES Act.
The loans were intended to provide relief to businesses feeling the pinch of the COVID pandemic and resulting shutdown — but those in the network either paid Hill and Moran or used the money for themselves. In some cases, the defendants sent the money to Jonathan Spencer, 33, to invest in the foreign exchange markets, prosecutors said.
Geiger was arrested on Tuesday and remains behind bars until a Plano court hearing on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty to a single count against him, his lawyer said – adding that the beleaguered actor plans to “vigorously defend himself against this allegation”.
If convicted, each of the defendants could face up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
With post wires