MMA Referee Josh Rosenthal Sentenced to Federal Prison for Marijuana Cultivation

[dub]

MMA Referee Josh Rosenthal Gets 37 Months in Federal Prison for Marijuana


Veteran MMA referee Josh Rosenthal on Tuesday was sentenced to 37 months in prison, three years' probation and a $100 fee for his role in a large-scale pot operation in Oakland, California

The sentence matches the prison time recommended in a January plea deal Rosenthal copped with federal prosecutors, though it shaves two years off probation.

Without a deal, Rosenthal faced 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and a minimum of five years' probation.

A representative for U.S. District Court judge Saundra Brown Armstrong, who issued the sentence, confirmed Rosenthal's punishment with MMAjunkie.com. Rosenthal's attorney could not be reached for comment.

Rosenthal was arrested in April 2012 after federal agents raided an Oakland warehouse owned by Rosenthal and an associate that contained 1,356 marijuana plants worth an estimated $6 million. He initially pleaded not guilty to drug charges.

Despite his trouble with the law, Rosenthal officiated a pair of MMA events in Utah and California over the past two months. He earlier declined comment on his case.

Rosenthal was a regular at UFC events and oversaw several high-profile bouts, including a heavyweight title fight at UFC 116 between then-champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, which drew praise from UFC President Dana White.

[FSU]

Yeah it sucks....At least he got to go to one more fighting event before being locked up.  He was just at WAR MMA few weeks ago

[iBaked]

Rosenthal was arrested in April 2012 after federal agents raided an Oakland warehouse owned by Rosenthal and an associate that contained 1,356 marijuana plants worth an estimated $6 million. He initially pleaded not guilty to drug charges.

So people are getting warehouses to grow thousands of plants now?
Good grief people. Ballin

[FSU]

They BALLIN over in cali son

[dub]

So people are getting warehouses to grow thousands of plants now?
Good grief people. Ballin

Man, you should see some of the crazy operations I've been to in Oakland and Alameda.

The grows look like pics you see in High Times x 100

[R]

Will he get a pardon?  Or is this an Obummer federal crackdown thing?

[FSU]

He is already in jail for 37 months.

[dub]

The origina charge was 10 years and 10 million dollar fine.

He got off easy with about 3 years federal prison and 100 dollar fine.

[R]

Why is growing pot still illegal, especially in a MMJ state?   This is ludicrous!  !0 million?  there are probably 10 thousand other grows in cali right now!
 
This is fucking insane.  I don't care who the guy is.

[R]

Obummer sucks.

[dub]

Even a medical patient has a certain number of plants they are allowed to grow for themselves.

In my county, it is only 6 flowering and 12 vegging.

In Oakland, it is 72 plants with up to 32 square feet of canopy and 3 lbs of dried bud.

So his 1,000+ plants are over 10x the legal limit,

There is a way to grow that many plants, you have to go through some loopholes and register as a co-op, and get the doctors scripts from actual patients and register as their caregiver. Then you can grow another 72 plants for them. If you have 100 scripts, you can grow 720 plants.

Josh obviously didn't have all of his game pieces lined-up.

[adamjj]

Damn that sucks.. I wonder if he is related to Ed Rosenthal at all? He lives in Oakland.. Probably not related but I can't help but wonder lol

I thought the same thing lol I've been studying ed rosenthal guide to growing marijuana like a bible lately, I got a little PC micro grow box and got my five pack of pineapple express seeds from Barney's seed co. First plant was dank, but feel as though I could have done better. Anyone know any good sources for auto flowering plant and info on higher yields other then scrog or other lst methods?

[R]

OK, so he had 10x the number he was allowed.  Fine him $1000 and tell him not to do it again.

[dub]

Apparently, he was under investigation for a long, long time.

And, as stated, he didn't play the game correctly, he got way too big, everyone in the bay area knew who he was  -  and got popped.

Marijuana millionaires and cannabis celebrities are open targets for the po-po

This goes to show that even in medical marijuana states there is still a need to push for full legalization.

[R]

Only legalization is satisfactory to me.  MMJ is not an option.