Yahoo Finance Red Power Ranger Austin St. John Arrested in FBI Raid for Alleged COVID Fraud
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A '90s TV star could face up to 20 years in prison for alleged COVID-related wire fraud.
Austin St. John (real name Jason Lawrence Geiger) who played the Red Power Ranger Jason Lee Scott in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, was arrested Thursday morning after an FBI raid at his home in McKinney, Texas.
A federal indictment shared by the Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney's office alleges that 18 people — including St. John — attempted to defraud the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program while the program was used to provide relief to struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns that began in 2020. It's alleged that in total, the 18 defendants received more than $3.5 million across 16 separate small business loans.
The indictment additionally claims that the wire fraud was allegedly led by two defendants, Michael Hill and Andrew Moran, who arranged for the 18 defendants to file for PPP loans through existing, or newly created small businesses.
St. John, 47, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
While St. John started his career as a Power Ranger in the early '90s, he's still involved with the franchise. In 2019, he voiced his character again for a Power Rangers video game called Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. He also appeared as the character in the TV series Power Rangers Beast Morphers in 2020.
According to the Internet Movie Database, St. John currently has one project, titled The Order, in pre-production.
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RELATED: Former Power Rangers Star Ricardo Medina Jr. Pleads Guilty to Killing Roommate with a Sword
Another former Power Ranger, Ricardo Medina Jr. (who was known as Cole Evans, the Red Wild Force Ranger on Power Rangers Wild Force) pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2017 after he fatally stabbed his roommate with a sword.
Before the trial, Medina Jr. had alleged he killed his roommate in self defense. "I want to say I am very, very, very sorry for what occurred. … My heart goes out to the Sutter family," he said in 2015.
