Oakland County Jail Sheriff
’90 Day Fiance’ Star Ben Rathbun Breaks Silence on Arrest and Being Fired From His Job
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star Ben Rathbun exclusively tells In Touch that his firing from the Michigan Lupus Foundation “will serve to humble me and allow greater growth in me as a person.”
The former executive director says that he doesn’t “blame my foundation for letting me go” after his former employer wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday, March 30, “Effective immediately, Ben Rathbun is no longer an employee” of the organization.
“Anything that would distract us from accomplishing the mission of our charity should be dealt with appropriately,” he adds. “I had become a major distraction, and I know this process, while painful, is the best course of action.”
He added that his termination “will eventually lead me to another place of service that can use my talents to help people.”
Ben is also breaking his silence about his bench warrant arrest for violating probation stemming from a 2020 OUI arrest.
“When the public, including the board members of my charity, first heard of my arrest, [it was] falsely reported that I had been picked up late at night for drunk driving,” he says. “While the truth was far less dramatic, the damage had been done.”
“But still, I had committed a crime and put myself and others in danger,” he explains. “And … I had hid it from them and even my family.”
The former pastor’s arrest stemmed from a probation violation related to his September 2020 arrest, where he was charged with one count of OWAI (operating while ability impaired) and one count of driving while license suspended/revoked/denied, according to court records viewed by In Touch. He was released the same day as his arrest, with his bail set at $10,000. Ben was sentenced to 15 days of community service and 24 months of probation on March 21. While he was ordered to spend two days in jail, he was credited with time served in online court records viewed by In Touch.
“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,” he tells In Touch. “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.”
“The next day, I attempted to drive home and hit the curb disabling my car,” he says. “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.”
Ben was sentenced to 18 months of probation in January 2021 after entering a guilty plea for the OUI. But he failed to appear in court at a February hearing pertaining to a violation, causing the bench warrant to be issued.
“I received 18 months probation, community service, counseling, fines, educational courses and random testing for weeks and weeks,” he explains. “I met all the requirements and never had a positive test.”
“However, when the court allowed me to move to another state, they mailed a summons to the wrong address,” he says. “This was my fault because I needed to make sure I was getting all notices, but by the time I found out, it was too late, and I missed my appointment. So a warrant was issued for my arrest. I immediately drove 14 hours and turned myself in to the court and spent a night in jail.”
Ben has also been dealing with several liens placed on his Warren, Michigan, property over the years due to “nonpayment of property taxes,” according to documents obtained by In Touch.
Fans have been watching Ben’s romance with 22-year-old Peruvian beauty, Mahogany Roca, unfold during the current season 5 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. She’s the same age as his daughter, and the pair had spent three months communicating online before appearing on the show. His friends and family thought Ben might have been a victim of catfishing since he and Mahogany never had a video chat while getting to know each other and all her Instagram photos were heavily filtered. But the pair eventually met in person for a dinner date.
On the March 13 episode of the TLC show, Mahogany said she was “uncomfortable” with the amount of texts Ben was sending her after their dinner date following a long discussion about his past relationships with his ex-wife and ex-fiancé. Fans will have to keep tuning in to see if Ben and Mahogany make it as a couple. For spoilers, click here
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