MMA News Forums » MMA Forums » General MMA Forum

[pa99fighter]

Clear of federal charges, Leonard Garcia ready to rejoin team
by John Morgan on Jul 03, 2008 at 7:23 pm ET
Legally embattled WEC featherweight contender Leonard Garcia (11-3) has been cleared of all pending federal charges, released from a court-ordered house arrest, and will look to rejoin his teammates and coach in Albuquerque, N.M., later this month.

MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) today spoke to Garcia, and the "Bad Boy" confirmed he was free to return to Greg Jackson's camp, which he's planning to do July 18.

Garcia, who originally posted the legal update on his MySpace page, still faces pending charges of obstruction of justice from the state of Texas, but he believes those charges will be resolved with probation.

"The federal people came in, looked at the case, and decided I was telling the truth and dropped all charges," Garcia said.

Garcia has maintained throughout the process of his arrest and arraignment that he was simply a victim of guilt by association. Garcia said the beginning of the story traces back more than three years, when a one-time friend was arrested for possession of an illegal substance.

"When the guy got caught having possession of the stuff that he was possessing, he was outside of my house," Garcia explained. "That's what tied me into the whole thing. He came to stop by the house and asked what we were doing -- if we wanted to go eat later. It was me and six of my buddies there, and we were hitting pads at the time.

"He walks out the door, and he turns around and says to me, 'Hey, do you know that the cops are here?'

"So we walked outside, and the police were like 'Who lives here?' And we said, 'We do.' And [the police officer] says, 'Do you mind if we search the house?' And I said 'No, we don't have a problem with you searching the house.'

"So [the police] search the house, and of course, there are no problems. Nothing. Well, my buddy that came over, he's acting all nervous. They had him separated from us, and [the police] ask him if they can search his car. And he said, 'No,' and that's where all the problems began."

Garcia said he allowed the police to continue to search his house and vehicle for several hours. Once the unnamed friend's vehicle was searched, the illegal substances were found, and everyone at Garcia's house at the time was brought in for questioning. All were quickly released – except for the friend.

Garcia assumed at that point the situation had been resolved, but when arrested in March, the 28-year-old discovered that day was simply the launching point of a much larger investigation.

"You can't change things in your past," Garcia said. "But looking back, I knew what [that friend] was doing, and I shouldn't have been around him. But you get the dog, you get the fleas. ... Had I known I could be in this much trouble for hanging around with him, I would have never done it. Now if I see him, I'll definitely turn the other way."

With the difficult situation behind him, Garcia said he is anxious to return to the cage and release some of the frustration that has built up inside in the four months since the arrest.

"They were offering me 10 years to life," Garcia said. "So I'm ready to give somebody a 10-year butt-whooping. ... Everybody thought Roger Huerta was tough, and that was a good fight; ya'll ain't seen nothing yet."

Although originally rumored to be competing on the WEC's Aug. 3 event, Garcia said he is now trying to land a bout at WEC 36 on Sept. 10.

"My manager is trying to get me on the September card right now," Garcia said. Source:Clear of federal charges, Leonard Garcia ready to rejoin team | MMAjunkie.com

Good for Garcia he has talent. War Bad Boy!

[POINDEXTER]

He better count his lucky stars.

[LefthookStcrook]

Good to hear, the guys got talent and hes just beginning to make a splash at 145. Good to see he wasn't involved with that shit, fuck 10-to-Life, imagine the stress thinking about that. Hopefully he gets his head on straight and gets right back into a good camp and strings off a couple wins, I've alway enjoyed watching garcia fight

[Gurry]

WAR GARCIA, i know he din do it, hes a good guy and a good fighter. Ima fan and cant wait to see him in his gaidojitsu form...

[AngryJohnny]

That's awesome news.