Who was the first Red Ranger?

Jason Lawrence Geiger, professionally known as Austin St. John is an American actor, martial artist, and paramedic best known for his portrayal of Jason Lee Scott as the Red Power Ranger in the Power Rangers franchise.

St. John began as a proficient martial artist, holding a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, a first-degree black belt in Judo and a first-degree black belt in Kenpo and for a time, he worked as a martial arts instructor.

Additionally, in 1996, he published a book on the subject, Karate Warrior: A Beginner’s Guide to Martial Arts.

St. John’s first acting role and most well known role to date came to him when he was just a teenager, when he was cast as teen superhero Jason Lee Scott, the Red Power Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which debuted on Fox Kids in 1993.

For the role, he took the stage name Austin St. John, Austin coming from The Six Million Dollar Man’s Steve Austin and St. John being a name of his own choosing.

Though the series was hugely successful and brought St. John international recognition as an actor, long hours on set combined with low pay and no union recognition presented real challenges for him.

As a result, St. John, along with all of his other co-stars including Jason David Frank agreed to leave the show during its second season if their employers rejected their pay demands and unionization attempts.

But when time came, only Walter Emanuel Jones and Thuy Trang joined him in the ultimatum and ultimately left the show.

St. John was replaced by Steve Cardenas as the Red Ranger.

The former Red Ranger spent 16 years as a paramedic before he retired in 2014.

Since then, he has remained a fixture at comic book conventions throughout the United States.

Then in May 2022, he was indicted on federal fraud charges related to the CARES Act.

St. John allegedly conspired in a $3.5 million scheme to create businesses or use an existing business to submit applications to fraudulently obtain Paycheck Protection Program funding.

Prosecutors allege St. John and co-defendants paid the ringleaders of the scheme, and spent the money on personal purchases and if convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.