UFC fighter Karel 'Karlos' Vemola has been sentenced with jail time along with three others for illegal cannabis farming in three locations in London. He was sentenced for one year in jail, along with his former partner Sarah Sharp, and Sharp's parents.
Vemola was sentenced to one year imprisonment for running cannabis farms while Sarah Sharp was given one year conditional discharge. According to International Business Times, Sarah's parents, Terrance Byman and Linda Sharp, were imprisoned for nine months and suspended for two years.
All four pleaded guilty to running illegal farms in Potters Bar and Bushey in Hertfordshire. Vermola claimed that he used cannabis to help deal with his injuries he sustained during fights while Byman and Linda Sharp stated that they agreed to venture in farming cannabis as they thought of it as an ideal way to top out their pensions.
Sherdog reports that the authorities found £18,200 ($20,396) worth of skunk cannabis during the raids in the illegal farms run by Vermola, although police suspect that the farm has already earned around £6,500 ($7,284). Suspicions about the properties first came to the police after the a burglary was reported by January 2014.
The issue on use of marijuana and other illegal drugs is not new topic to UFC players. As reported by MMA Mania, UFC commentator Joe Rogan said that drug use is very rampant among fighters that the users outnumber those who don't.
"That's also the weird thing about martial arts. A tremendous amount of UFC fighters smoke pot. I mean, a massive amount where it's a huge issue with them involving drug tests, you know, where they have to stop smoking weed for the last four weeks or so in order to pass drug tests. More UFC fighters smoke pot than don't smoke pot", Rogan said.
Vemola has been on top of his game going 2-4 during his stint in UFC in 2010 to 2013. He previously trained as a Greco-Roman wrestler in the Czech Republic but is currently the holder of the Ultimate Challenge MMA light heavyweight category champion title.
