Exclusive
Johnny Ortiz – who starred alongside Kevin Costner in “McFarland, USA” – He is currently sitting behind bars after being charged with charges of attempted premeditated murder … TMZ found out.
According to legal documents, obtained by TMZ, Ortiz and another man, Armando Miguel Navarro, allegedly tried to kill a man named Brian Duke “for the benefit of, under the leadership and in association with a street criminal gang with the specific intention of promoting, promoting, and assisting in the criminal conduct of gang members.”
Navarro is accused of pulling the trigger, and while it is unclear exactly what role Ortiz played in the crime … prosecutors believed he was justifying the attempted murder charge.
Ortiz, who played one of the cross country runners in the Disney movie based on a true story, “McFarland, USA”, was arrested in late May and remains behind bars. The judge posted his bond at a whopping $ 1,120,000.
His family insists that he is not guilty and is trying to increase his bond through crowdfunding. They wrote on the site: “Johnny is everything to our family. Johnny does everything to help the community and especially the Hispanic community … he is in prison fighting for his case where he is innocent.”
The actor also appeared in “Ali”, “American Crime” and “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”.
Ortiz has pleaded not guilty and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday.
