Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Biography

Ronald "Ronnie" Ortiz-Magro, Jr., (born December 4, 1985) is an American television personality and actor. He first came to prominence as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore.

Early life

Ortiz-Magro was born and raised in The Bronx, New York to an Italian-American father, Ronald Magro, and a Puerto Rican mother, Constance Ortiz . His parents have divorced, his mother has remarried and has another child, James, with her current husband.

Career

Ortiz worked in real estate for his father before becoming part of MTV's hit reality show Jersey Shore in August 2009. The show premiered on December 4, 2009 and they have currently shot 6 seasons for the show in New Jersey, Miami, and Italy. The show is a hit and has made ratings history for MTV. All eight cast mates are getting paid $100,000 per episode as of season 4. He also has a T-Shirt line called "Jersey Laundry". He has since appeared with his cast mates on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Wendy Williams Show and Live with Regis and Kelly. Ortiz-Magro can also be found in the popular image series titled "Stop it Ron", which usually features an image of his on/off girlfriend, Sammi Giancola, along with quotes like "Stop it Ron, you're traumatizing me", "Ron!!" and "I'm done."

Ortiz-Magro made an appearance at TNA Wrestling's Impact Wrestling tapings on October 26, 2011 in Macon, Georgia. The first episode, which aired November 3, saw Ortiz and Eric Young get beaten down by Robbie E and Rob Terry, which built to a tag team match the following week, where Ronnie pinned Robbie for the win.

Ortiz-Magro and his Jersey Shore co-stars appeared in the 2012 film of The Three Stooges. He has also appeared in Xenadrine ads.

Personal life

Ortiz-Magro started dating his current on/off girlfriend Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, a fellow castmate on Jersey Shore, in early August 2009. They continued their relationship outside of the house with many break ups and make ups. As of October 19, 2011, it was announced that Ron and Sammi have been on a break due to being busy since they've been home. Ron and Sammi are recently back together since May of 2012 and are moved in together. .

Arrest and indictment

Ortiz-Magro was arrested after a fight occurring on September 4, 2009, on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, for aggravated assault for striking Stephen Izzo with a closed fist. Izzo lost consciousness as a result. Ortiz-Magro says the other party provoked him while he was walking home with Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola and that the other person involved in the fight was being disrespectful and shouted "racist" remarks at their African-American security guards and might have spat on him. Izzo claims that he was punched because MTV security held him back and Ortiz-Magro punched him in the back of the head.

Ortiz-Magro was charged under the name "Ronnie Ortiz". He spent a few hours in jail, had a mug shot taken, and paid $600 bail. Ortiz-Magro stated that he was not a person who likes to fight and that was acting in self-defense: "You'll see throughout the show, we do go out and if we do get into an altercation... It's us just defending ourselves or reacting to somebody else."

On December 17, 2010 Ortiz-Magro was indicted for one count of third-degree assault, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. On February 14, 2011, Ortiz-Magro's lawyer, Joseph A. Raia plead not guilty to single charge of third-degree aggravated assault on his behalf.

In July 2011, an Ocean County judge dismissed the assault charges against Ortiz-Magro and would remain dismissed as long as he stayed out of trouble. Ortiz-Magro was also admitted into a pretrial intervention program for 18 months.

Izzo has also filed a civil suit against Ortiz-Magro and MTV that is still pending.