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Oleg Raevsky — founder of the now defunct Coliseum FC promotion in Russia — was arrested in 2017.
After being found guilty of numerous drug trafficking offences, Alexander Emelianenko’s former MMA promoter has been handed a 10-year jail sentence.
Oleg Raevsky — founder of the now defunct Coliseum FC promotion in Russia — was arrested in 2017 during a controlled transaction set up by the Department of Drug Control in St. Petersburg. Raevsky was caught selling 5.16 grams of white powder, which forensics later determined as cocaine. His buyer had already established an agreement with local authorities and the controlled transaction took place shortly thereafter.
Following the arrest, police seized twenty 5,000 ruble notes, all of which had been marked by the authorities ahead of the transaction. Police also seized a drug paraphernalia such as a leather bag with a spoon, scales, and a loaded gun. This further cemented Raevsky’s guilt.
Last month, Raevsky was found guilty on drug trafficking charges and was later handed a 10-year sentence in October 2020.
“Raevsky was found by the court guilty of committing crimes under paragraph ‘g’ of part 4 of Art. 228.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and part 2 of Art. 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal sale and storage of narcotic drugs on a large scale),” said the city prosecutor in an official statement (h/t RT Sports). “He was (sentenced) to the form of 10 years 1 month of imprisonment with the serving of the sentence in a penal colony with a strict regime.”
Raevsky once promoted an Emelianenko fight over three years ago – a TKO loss to Dmitriy Sosnovskiy – and has been vocal in his support of the controversial figure. Following Emelianenko’s 4-and-a-half-year sentence for sexual assault and kidnapping was announced in 2015, Raevsky referred to it as “political persecution.”
“The fact is that there is pressure on the investigation,” Rajewski told Sovsports.ru. “That is a fact. If the process was quiet, Alexander would have probably already gotten a suspended sentence. We see that everything was done to put Alexander in jail.”