Ref Josh Rosenthal pleads guilty to marijuana charges

Quote :

Veteran MMA referee Josh Rosenthal awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana and possession with intent to distribute.

One year ago, federal agents raided an Oakland, Calif., warehouse owned by Rosenthal and an associate that contained 1,356 marijuana plants, according to a copy of the agreement, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) obtained from the U.S. District Attorney's office in Oakland.

The drug's street value was estimated at more than $6 million.

Rosenthal is due in U.S. District Court on May 17. The government is recommending 37 months in jail, fines and five years of probation, during which he would be subject to random searches, according to the agreement. Without a deal, he faced 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and a minimum of five years' probation.

However, the court ultimately will decide Rosenthal's sentence.

Rosenthal, who agreed to a plea deal in January, did not respond to request for comment. His lawyer of record, Ted W. Cassman, was unavailable for comment.

A jiu-jitsu practitioner and martial artist, Rosenthal has officiated dozens of high-profile bouts in the UFC, including a heavyweight title fight at UFC 116 between then-champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin. The Nevada State Athletic Commission chose Rosenthal after Lesnar and UFC officials objected to veteran ref Steve Mazzagatti getting the assignment.

After the fight, UFC President Dana White praised Rosenthal's restraint in the bout's first round, when Carwin unleashed a flurry of punches upon the downed Lesnar. The now-retired Lesnar went on to win the bout via second-round submission.

As of late, Rosenthal has been conspicuously absent from major MMA events. Earlier this month, he gave an interview to website BloodyElbow.com in which he said his absence was the result of a staph infection. He said he would be officiating an event in May and made no mention of legal trouble.

Damn, that sucks.

Dats alotta bud.

Dumass.

I mean, if u want in on the business, why not go legal? Seems easy enough out there.

captain organic wrote:

Dumass.

I mean, if u want in on the business, why not go legal? Seems easy enough out there.

Josh had a sweet ass job, why fuck that up? Looks like greed to me.

As a ref? It would be cool, but I doubt they make a lot of $

bobbitt15 wrote:

As a ref? It would be cool, but I doubt they make a lot of $

I bet he makes above average money. Especially since he was a fairly popular ref that was atleast a semi-celebrity at this point. I bet he was fairly comfortable.

captain organic wrote:

Dumass.

I mean, if u want in on the business, why not go legal? Seems easy enough out there.

I'm not up to speed on current co-op laws, but that is a lot of plants.... He could of been legal on paper but not in practice.

Refs probably don't make shit. We have fighters in the UFC who don't even make 5k to show and you think the guy who isn't even fighting is making bank? Come on, man.

Ludo wrote:

Refs probably don't make shit. We have fighters in the UFC who don't even make 5k to show and you think the guy who isn't even fighting is making bank? Come on, man.

Yeah but a ref can do multiple shows and multiple fights. He "works" more then fighters do.