Exclusive
Johnny Ortiz — who starred alongside Kevin Costner in “McFarland, USA” — is currently sitting behind bars after being charged with premeditated attempted murder charges … TMZ has learned.
According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ortiz and another man, Armando Miguel Navarro, allegedly tried to kill a man named Brian Duke “for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further and assist in criminal conduct by gang members.”
Navarro is the one accused of pulling the trigger, and while it’s unclear exactly what role Ortiz played in the crime … prosecutors felt it warranted the attempted murder charge.
Ortiz — who starred as one of the cross country runners in the based-on-a-true-story Disney flick, “McFarland, USA” — was arrested in late May, and remains behind bars. The judge set his bail at a whopping $1,120,000.
His family insists he’s not guilty, and is trying to raise his bail through crowdfunding. They wrote on the site, “Johnny is everything to our family. Johnny does everything to help the community and the Hispanic community especially … he is in jail fighting for his case that he is innocent on.”
The actor’s also appeared in “Ali,” “American Crime” and “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.”
Ortiz has pled not guilty and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday.
