If you recall last year, Power Rangers Actor Austin St. John (Jason Lawrence Geiger) took a plea deal for defrauding the United States Government. A year later, we learned that Austin St. John will be avoiding a federal jail sentence on Thursday for his role in a $3.5 million Paycheck Protection Program scam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a new report from Courthouse News, Austin St. John, 50, of McKinney, Texas, was sentenced to five years of Probation under his legal name of Jason Lawrence Geiger after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. St. John told the U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle the crime was “a one-off thing.” Austin St. John faced a sentence of up to 16 months in Federal Prison. Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump-appointed judge, ordered St. John to pay over $225,000 in restitution, waiving a fine and interest due to his inability to pay the additional amounts.
“This court will never see me again, I will go back to my good works.”
Austin St. John
At that time, U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston and the Department of Justice announced the arrests of 19 individuals, including St. John, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a press release on May 18, 2022. The following day, St. John, 47, was picked up by authorities at his home, TMZ reported. The 18 conspirators are alleged to have received 16 loans and at least $3.5 million in total. If convicted, they each face 20 years in federal prison. The prosecutors say that Michael LeWayne Hill, 50, of Mineral Wells, recruited people to use existing businesses or create a business to apply for PPP funds. The program was launched in 2020 under the CARES Act to prop up American businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Available Now: BOOM! Studios Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Vol. One
The Government funds originated as loans with a two-year maturity period and interest rate st 1%, with PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans being forgiven if businesses spent it on payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities within eight weeks of receipt. At least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been spent on payroll alone.
Prosecutors claimed that Andrew Charles Moran, 46, of Lewisville, had helped recruits with PPP paperwork and phony supporting documents. St. John and other defendants paid Hill and Moran, then spent the remaining money on themselves, according to prosecutors. Like clockwork, a statement was posted on Austin St. John’s Social Media Accounts immediately after the indictment ( Damage Control), claiming that the actor never met or interacted with the majority of the 18 other defendants. Last week, Prosecutors also asked Kernodle to spare St. John prison time, citing his cooperation with law enforcement since his arrest. Courthouse News has more information from the four-page sentencing memorandum.
Kernodle declined to give the actor jail time, due to testimony he gave during the trials of two co-defendants. He cited St. John’s lack of criminal history and otherwise law-abiding life. The only defendant that would be getting prison time would be Gregory Fitzgerald Hatley, 41, of Allen, due to his criminal history.
Austin St. John, born Jason Lawrence Geiger, starred as Jason Lee Scott, the leader of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as the Red Ranger. Like Jason David Frank (Known to many as Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger), he would return over the years, making cameos on some of the Power Ranger shows over the years, which include becoming the Gold Ranger in 1996 on the “Power Rangers Zeo”. The actor also appeared in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, the 1997 film that launched the Power Rangers Turbo television series. For several years, Austin St. John does make appearances and has been active in the convention circuit.
In February 1992, a sixth installment in the Super Sentai series titled Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger made its debut in Japan. It would become the first sentai series to be adapted for the first installment of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series. Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger would continue until February 1993. The footage from all 50 episodes would be used extensively in the Mighty Morphin series, which includes the core Zyuranger costumes in three of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers seasons being used as the original costumes in the American series. The Dragon Ranger’s costume was adapted into the Green Ranger’s costume and was used in season one and throughout early season two. Other elements from other Super Sentai Shows, were incorporated into the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as well.
Source: Courthouse News
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