MMA heavyweight and grappling champion, Jeff Monson pleaded “not guilty” to first degree malicious mischief before the court today in Olympia, Washington for “allegedly” spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the State Capitol building.

How “The Snowman” could plead not guilty is a bit bizarre since there are pictures of him in the act all over the Internet. It is likely the reasoning behind his not guilty plea could be that in his mind he was not committing malicious mischief, but rather, spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the State Capitol was his way of protesting the Iraq war and economic inequality, which is what he has claimed from the beginning.

KING-TV reports a Thurston County Superior Court judge ordered Monson to turn over his passport Tuesday while he awaits trial. The order to surrender his passport came after the prosecuting attorney argued that because of Monson’s anarchist beliefs he would have little regard following the orders of the court and should be considered a flight risk.

The defendant’s attorney said he would file a motion to release Monson’s passport so the professional MMA fighter could appear in two upcoming bouts he has scheduled; one in Russia and the other in Japan in February and March respectively.

Monson’s charges of first degree malicious mischief is considered a class B felony and carries a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison and a $20,000 fine.  In the mean time while awaiting trial, Monson is free on $20,000 bail.

In a completely separate incident, Monson also went to jail on January 19th for an incident involving an assault charge on his girlfriend and damage to her property.

Props – The Olympian

by:  Jack Bratcher

Leave a Reply