90 Day Fiance Star Ben Rathbun Has A Shady Criminal Past
As entertaining as it can be to watch, TLC's "90 Day Fiancé" franchise has had some shady stars. One of the cast members on this list of personalities who aren't what they seem is Ben Rathbun from Season 5 of "90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days," who made headlines when he was arrested in March 2022. It turned out that the arrest wasn't Rathbun's first run-in with the law, as reported by In Touch Weekly at the time; he was arrested then for violating his probation related to charges that stemmed from a previous arrest that occurred in September 2020.
Things only got worse from there. Following the March 2022 arrest, Rathbun, a former pastor, was terminated from his position as the executive director of the Michigan Lupus Foundation, according to Screen Rant.
Hopefully, Mahogany Roca — to whom Rathbun is now engaged, per In Touch Weekly — can look past her fiancé's legal troubles, seeing as there appear to be quite a few.
Ben Rathbun has been arrested for driving while intoxicated
"Before the 90 Days" star Ben Rathbun might be a former pastor, but that hasn't kept him on the right side of the law. Rathbun was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in 2020, as reported by TMZ, which led to his March 2022 arrest.
Once the news of his arrests broke, Rathbun spoke to In Touch Weekly and explained, "In September of 2020, I went to help a homeless couple living at a Red Roof Inn, and when they offered me a little plastic cup of wine, I stupidly accepted. When I left, I felt so tired I stopped at a hotel for the night and completely lost the next 24 hours. Apparently, they had spiked the drink." He then added, "The next day, I attempted to drive home and hit the curb disabling my car. The police did a breathalyzer and found no alcohol, but later they did a blood draw at the station and found flubromazolam in my system."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's Diversion Control Division, flubromazolam is a central nervous system depressant that is often abused.
He has also faced tax liens
Per another report from In Touch Weekly, Ben Rathbun has had liens placed on his property for non-payment of taxes multiple times between the years 2010 and 2017. The Hollywood Gossip speculated that Rathbun's debt could have been a motivating factor behind his decision to appear on "Before the 90 Days" to begin with, although it does not appear that Rathbun has addressed the tax liens publicly.
Following his firing from the Michigan Lupus Foundation, Rathbun revealed on Instagram that he had taken a job as a writer for a motorcycle-related publication (via Screen Rant). While it's unclear if he's still in that position, paying off his debt before his wedding to Mahogany Roca certainly wouldn't be a bad idea. As an added bonus, there's been speculation that the couple could be returning to the "90 Day Fiancé" franchise (via Screen Rant), so there's always that TLC check as a possibility.