http://www.mmaweekly.com/mma-referee-josh-rosenthal-sentenced-to-37-months-in-federal-prison-on-drug-chargesNoted mixed martial arts referee Josh Rosenthal has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison.
Rosenthal pled guilty to felony charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. Senior District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong at the U.S. District Court in Northern California handed down Rosenthal’s sentencing on Tuesday, according to an MMAFighting.com report.
MMAWeekly.com confirmed the report with U.S. District Court officials.
The 37-month federal prison sentence was mandatory with no possibility of parole. In addition to the prison sentence, Rosenthal also received a three-year supervised release and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment fee, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court office.
The charges stem from a raid by federal agents on a warehouse owned by Rosenthal and his associate, Jeff Weller. The two were accused of operating a large-scale marijuana production and distribution facility in Oakland, Calif.
The facility housed more than 1,000 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of more then $6 million.
Rosenthal has refereed fights at the highest level of the sport, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but had, until recently, been absent from the sport since reports of the charges against him surfaced.
