Chael Sonnen Facing 20 Years In Jail
Chael Sonnen's life just got a lot more complicated, as if it weren't already.
The UFC middleweight, who's currently serving a suspension from the California State Athletic Commission, today plead guilty to federal charges of money laundering – a charge that carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine – according to a release issued today by the U.S. District Attorney's Office in Oregon.
His sentencing is set to begin 10 days after he is expected to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128, according to sources close to the event, which today informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of the pending booking just as news of the legal trouble broke.
UFC 128 takes place March 19 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and features a light heavyweight title bout between champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and former champ Rashad Evans.
It's unknown whether a potential prison sentence will torpedo the middleweight bout's possibility as representatives from the UFC could not be reached at the time of this writing. However, The Oregonian is reporting Sonnen has reached a plea deal with the District Attorney that will result in a two-year probation, along with a $10,000 fine and the revocation of his realtor license.
Sonnen is currently serving a sentence of another sort, a suspension handed out by the California State Athletic Commission for elevated levels of testosterone following his fight-of-the-year candidate at UFC 117 with middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He was unsuccessful in appealing the punishment this past month at a CSAC hearing in Sacramento, Calif., though the commission voted to reduce his suspension from one year to six months while also issuing a $2,500 fine.
The District Attorney states Sonnen conducted a financial transaction that was "designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud."
"This office will continue to aggressively prosecute real estate professionals who committed the mortgage fraud that contributed to this country’s economic downturn and wreaked havoc on our community’s housing market," Dwight Holton, U. S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, stated in the release.
As part of his plea deal, Sonnen agreed to give up his Realtor's license and pay a $10,000 fine, said Michelle Holman Kerin, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case.
Sonnen could not immediately be reached for comment.
