War Machine Now Looking to Make a Plea Deal to Avoid Life in Prison


(War Machine in his natural habitat. / Photo via Michael Quine, Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Despite War Machine‘s insistence that he was defending himself against an ambush and Christy Mack and Corey Thomas “got what they deserved,” the UFC/Bellator veteran is now hoping to make a plea deal to avoid being buried by the 30+ charges he faces stemming from the alleged savage beating of his girlfriend in August and previous incidents of domestic violence.

War Machine (aka Jon Koppenhaver) was set to appear at a preliminary hearing this Friday, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Koppenhaver’s lawyer Brandon Sua asked Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson for time to present prosecutors with “a plea deal to resolve the case…without further litigation and pretrial proceedings.” Tobiasson agreed, and gave Koppenhaver’s lawyers another month to investigate the charges against him. The prosecution is playing along, for now:


(War Machine in his natural habitat. / Photo via Michael Quine, Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Despite War Machine‘s insistence that he was defending himself against an ambush and Christy Mack and Corey Thomas “got what they deserved,” the UFC/Bellator veteran is now hoping to make a plea deal to avoid being buried by the 30+ charges he faces stemming from the alleged savage beating of his girlfriend in August and previous incidents of domestic violence.

War Machine (aka Jon Koppenhaver) was set to appear at a preliminary hearing this Friday, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Koppenhaver’s lawyer Brandon Sua asked Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson for time to present prosecutors with “a plea deal to resolve the case…without further litigation and pretrial proceedings.” Tobiasson agreed, and gave Koppenhaver’s lawyers another month to investigate the charges against him. The prosecution is playing along, for now:

Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Bluth said [Christy] Mack and [Corey] Thomas were ready to testify at a preliminary hearing slated for Friday.

But, she added, “the state is always willing to take into consideration any information the defense would like to present”…

Bluth was also quick to say that defense lawyers should not delay the case in an attempt to “ice the victim” or wait for memory of the attack and wounds to subside.

“It is not going to work,” Bluth said. “The victim is always going to be cooperative with us. Both victims in this case want to get this process going”…

Koppenhaver faces life in prison without parole on 32 counts, including attempted murder, sexual assault, battery, coercion, preventing or dissuading a witness or victim from reporting a crime, and first-degree kidnapping resulting in substantial bodily harm.

It’s disappointing, in a way; I would have loved to see War Machine maintain his innocence in court while his lawyer tries to explain what a good guy he is without breaking into laughter. Instead, Koppenhaver will likely admit to some charges so that he can avoid a life of incarceration. We leave you with War Machine’s most recent twitter-poem, published last Friday:

In the blink of an eye,
I lost my life.
How did a nice surprise,
End in strife?

Why was I dealt this,
Horrible hand by fate?
Lured into the depths of hell,
With love as the bait.

This is a nightmare,
From which I can not wake.
There’s too much pain,
It’s more than I can take.

I have no recourse,
My hands are tied.
There is no justice in the world,
The gods have lied.

So for now,
I just sit and wait.
I’ll always regret the day I chose,
Love over hate.

Rogers Pleads Guilty to Assault and Has Other Charges Dropped As Part of Plea Deal in Domestic Abuse Case


(Brett “Crisco” Rogers. Ain’t nothin’ sticks to him.)

Well, as expected, Brett Rogers isn’t going to have to answer for the crimes he committed against his wife back in July.

The former Strikeforce heavyweight today reached a plea deal in his domestic assault case stemming from an incident that occurred in the summer in which neighbors and Rogers’ nine and 10-year-old daughters witnessed the hulking former Sam’s Club employee ground and pounding his wife in the backyard of their Apple Valley home. During the attack, his wife, Tiuana was momentarily rendered unconscious, had one of her teeth knocked out and was left bloodied and battered and with cauliflower ear as she fled the scene. Following the incident, Rogers was charged with felony third-degree assault, felony domestic assault by strangulation, and felony stalking as well as one gross misdemeanor count of endangerment of a child.

According to the Apple Valley Patch, as a result of the plea deal his attourney was able to strike with prosecutors, Rogers pled guilty today to a simple charge of third-degree assault — which is not a felony — and the rest of the charges were dropped.


(Brett “Crisco” Rogers. Ain’t nothin’ sticks to him.)

Well, as expected, Brett Rogers isn’t going to have to answer for the crimes he committed against his wife back in July.

The former Strikeforce heavyweight today reached a plea deal in his domestic assault case stemming from an incident that occurred in the summer in which neighbors and Rogers’ nine and 10-year-old daughters witnessed the hulking former Sam’s Club employee ground and pounding his wife in the backyard of their Apple Valley home. During the attack, his wife, Tiuana was momentarily rendered unconscious, had one of her teeth knocked out and was left bloodied and battered and with cauliflower ear as she fled the scene. Following the incident, Rogers was charged with felony third-degree assault, felony domestic assault by strangulation, and felony stalking as well as one gross misdemeanor count of endangerment of a child.

According to the Apple Valley Patch, as a result of the plea deal his attourney was able to strike with prosecutors, Rogers pled guilty today to a simple charge of third-degree assault — which is not a felony — and the rest of the charges were dropped. Although it is possible that he could be sentenced to jail, his lawyer, Murad Mohammed doesn’t think his client will do time behind bars because of his clean criminal record and because Rogers “is owning up to what he did,” which is pretty much the opposite of what he did on Inside MMA two weeks ago when he told host Ron Kruck that the media was making a mountain out of a molehill.

“The situation that occurred, it happened and it was more of a misunderstanding when I look at it. The papers can write whatever but we still going through the legal process,” Rogers told Kruck with a straight face. “I’m confident that things are going to dropped, squared away and then we can move forward like we said. We’re a married couple, we have our ups and down just like everyone else.”

“Overall, Brett and I are pleased with the outcome,” said Mohammed. “I think it’s important for everyone, especially Brett’s wife and family, to know that Brett has taken ownership for everything that’s happened. It’s an unfortunate situation for the family and the end result is Brett not having a felony conviction resulting in him returning to his family and continuing to fight.”

A pre-sentence investigation will be take place prior to a scheduled November 30 sentencing hearing. In the meantime, Rogers remains free on his own recognizance and the $100,000 bond he posted back in July. His first fight since the incident and his subsequent firing by Strikeforce is scheduled for September 23 when he takes on UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez in the main event of Titan Fighting Championship 20 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

Mike Whitehead Has Apparently Copped a Plea Deal for April 2010 Rape Charges

("Now as soon as he wakes up, don’t stop for three minutes, then go sit in the corner on a chair.")It looks like Mike Whitehead has made a deal with Las Vegas prosecutors in his felony sexual assault case.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, The …


("Now as soon as he wakes up, don’t stop for three minutes, then go sit in the corner on a chair.")

It looks like Mike Whitehead has made a deal with Las Vegas prosecutors in his felony sexual assault case.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, The Ultimate Fighter 2 cast member was represented by his lawyer in court today for his scheduled preliminary hearing in Nevada as he was "stuck in Arizona" and according to his council, they have "reached an agreement between Whitehead and the state."

"Iron Mike’s" next appearance is set for February 28.

If you haven’t heard the synopsis of the case check it out after the jump.

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