Former Ultimate Fighting Championship No. 1 middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has pleaded guilty to money laundering and could face up to 20 years in prison or a $500,000 fine, according to a release issued Monday by the U.S. District Attorney’s office in Oregon.
Sonnen, who was a round away from defeating champion Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August before being caught in a triangle submission, entered the plea in federal court Monday.
The Associated Press reported that federal prosecutors claim in 2006 Sonnen was the real estate agent for a Portland home when he arranged for a title company to pay US$69,000 to a plumbing company for repairs to the home that were never done. U.S. attorney’s spokeswoman Gerri Badden said Monday that most of that money was paid to the buyer as a cash incentive to purchase the home.
Sentencing has been set for March 28.
According to The Oregonian, the prosecution is recommending two years’ probation. As part of his plea deal, Sonnen will pay a $10,000 fine and also surrender his realtor’s licence.
Sonnen, a Republican who last year was running for a seat in state legislature in his home state of Oregon, dropped out of the race due to what he called “a 2006 legal issue (that) has arisen that needs my immediate attention.”
At the time Sonnen told Fight! Magazine: “I am not at liberty to disclose the details, but my name was involved in a real estate case that requires a ruling. If the ruling is adverse, I would be disqualified from running for office until 2011.”
Sonnen, 33, also tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following his Aug. 7 loss to Silva. While he denied any cheating, he was suspended six months by the California State Athletic Commission, though his suspension was later cut in half. He was due to be eligible to fight again as of March 2 and according to MMAjunkie.com, he was being booked for a fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J., on March 19.
NOTES: London, Ont.’s Sam (Hands of Stone) Stout has torn a tricep and was forced to pull out of his Feb. 5 bout against Paul Kelly. He has been replaced by Donald (Cowboy) Cerrone at UFC 126 … Top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will take on Antonio Silva at a Strikeforce show in New Jersey on Feb. 12, according to ESPN. A matchup between former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett is also reportedly in the works … The Edmonton-based Maximum Fighting Championship announced Monday it has signed Richie (Hell Boy) Whitson, who will take on B.C.’s (Ragin) Kajan Johnson at MFC 28: Supremacy. The Feb. 25 event will be headlined by an all-Canadian light-heavyweight title bout between Ryan (The Big Deal) Jimmo and Dwayne (D-Bomb) Lewis.
