Chael Sonnen’s Downward Spiral Continues

Added on Jan 04, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

Chael Sonnen can not seem to stay out of trouble. Just as we were hearing the now confirmed rumors that Sonnen will be facing Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 128, we caught word that Sonnen plead guilty to money laundering.

We first heard of the story when Sonnen dropped out of an election he won the primary for in Oregon. Sonnen told Fight Magazine “A 2006 legal issue has arisen that needs my immediate attention. 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, a real estate agent, was selling house, and basically the mortgage company agreed to give some of the proceeds to a plumbing company for repairs on the house. The plumbing company (Crown Plumbing) in question is owned by Sonnen’s mother, and no work was ever done on the home. Instead, the money was given to the buyer of the home as a kick back. Government prosecutors allege Sonnen cooperated with Joel Rosabal and Chadwick Amsden, two mortgage brokers with Lighthouse Financial Group, a now-defunct mortgage brokerage formerly based in Vancouver. Rosabal and Amsden in May were indicted and charged with multiple counts of money laundering, mail fraud and other charges, in part for their role in the sale of the same house.

Dwight Holton, U. S. Attorney for the District of Oregon said in a statement, “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. We entrusted these professionals to honestly broker real estate transactions and instead, they defrauded lending institutions throughout the country and left financial ruin in their wake.” This investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case against Sonnen is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Michelle Holman Kerin. The pending cases involving Lighthouse are being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Michelle Holman Kerin and Allan Garten.

Money Laundering carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. However, we are hearing as part of his plea, he will likely just give up his real estate lisence and pay a 10,000 dollar fine. We are also hearing that he may also get up to 2 years probation, but the official sentencing isn’t complete as of yet. It is unlikely that Sonnen will face any jail time.

This is all coming off the heals of his 1 year suspension (reduced to 6) after he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. At a hearing with the California Athletic State Athletic Commission, Sonnen claimed he had been notifying the NSAC(Nevada State Athletic Commission) and the UFC for years that he had Hypergonadism. This is a disease where your body doesn’t produce enough testosterone, and therefore you need to take it to level out. They reduced his suspension to 6 months. It’s important to mention that Keith Kizer, the head of the NSAC, claims he was NEVER informed of Sonnen’s conditions, and has promised to investigate the matter further.