World Extreme Cagefighting fighter and former UFC combatant Leonard Garcia was arrested recently for his alleged involvement in an extensive cocaine drug trafficking ring in Texas according to Newschannel II in Lubbock. In fact, thirteen people were arrested in connection with the drug ring that apparently was preceded by a four-year investigation that involved not only local officials and state police, but federal help as well. Five federal indictments were issued for the accused, and there is no doubt that Leonard Garcia’s name is on one of those indictments.

Garcia had this to say about the case, reported by MMAJunkie.com:

"I am fighting it because there is nothing but someone saying I was involved,"  said Garcia, who was released from jail on a recognizance bond and will return to court on May 5. "I hope to have a smile on my face after this is said and done, but I feel like I'm in a fight for my life."

He continues his response by asking for support from his fans and asking them to stick with him in this fight for his life. Let me enlighten the general MMA fanbase on a few statistics that you can wrap your brain around.

Here’s a snapshot of some statistics on federal criminal cases which includes drug cases, props to MMAjunkie readers for pointing this out:

During 2004, criminal cases were commenced against 92,645 defendants in U.S. district court. Most (88%) were charged with a felony offense. Thirty-seven percent of felony defendants were charged with a drug offense; 36% of all defendants were charged with a public-order offense -- including 19% with an immigration offense and 11% with a weapons offense. Fifteen percent were charged with a property offense.

Cases were terminated against 83,391 defendants during 2004. Most (90%) defendants were convicted. Of the 74,782 defendants convicted, 72,152 (or 96%) pleaded guilty or no-contest.

96% of the defendants plead guilty or no-contest to the charges brought forth by federal charges who were convicted. 90% of the total number of cases brought up ended in conviction, so that leads 10% of the cases either ending in lesser charges or actual clearing of the charges.

Let me ask this question, and I’m sure I’ll get the same response from many of you. Does Leonard Garcia actually have a case here? Would the federal government hand down an indictment unless it had a lot of evidence in its corner? Doubtful. I hate to say it to the fans that support Leonard Garcia, but this doesn’t bode well for him at all. Much like Michael Vick, a federal indictment almost guarantees a case with solid evidence, and with a four-year investigation behind the claims, it’s hard to imagine Garcia simply being pointed at by someone and then thrown in the slammer. I’m sure there are some things that have been left out that will eventually surface when the jury trial happens.

Good luck, Leonard, you’re going to need it.

According to KCBD Newschannel 11 down in Lubbock, Texas, UFC veteran and WEC newcomer Leonard Garcia was arrested in connection with a cocaine trafficking drug ring that could see Garcia facing jail time. Amazingly, I've read some unbelievably ridiculous comments regarding the arrest that give me a sense of what some fans believe athletes can do these days.

Leonard Garcia wasn't unlucky or in the wrong place at the wrong time. According to the article, the arrests were the result of a four-year investigation that found all parties involved had conspired to sell cocaine going back as early as 2001. The article also points out the fact that those accused were all named in five federal indictments.

Let me just say this... if you have federal indictments naming you as the accused, and the result of a four-year investigation is what landed you in handcuffs, there is no mistake that you've likely been involved and aren't in the best position in the world to avoid the consequences. According to the article, some individuals face up to 40 years in prison while other face life sentences with fines estimating up to $4 million dollars.

If you are moving drugs, especially in Texas of all places, there's a good chance that someone has an eye on you. Your fame from the UFC isn't going to help, and Garcia better hope he has a good lawyer because federal indictments usually follow with loads of evidence. Good luck, Leonard.

The WEC will make its presence known in the Southwest on Wednesday night as they move into the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Three championship title fights will headline the card with Carlos Condit defending his title against Carlo Prater, a fighter who has once defeated Condit. Also on the line is the Lightweight title in which Rob McCullough will defend against former UFC prospect Jamie Varner. In the third title bout, Featherweights Chase Beebe and Miguel Torres will tangle for the title. Slated to make his WEC debut, Leonard Garcia will take on K-1 Hero’s veteran Hiroyuki Takaya to round out the top fights of the night. It looks to be a solid card full of excitement.

Carlo Prater vs. Carlos Condit
Welterweight Title Bout

One of the more exciting bouts of the night will be the main event featuring Prater vs. Condit. Prater is one of the only fighters to have defeated Condit, and it was in quick fashion via a triangle choke back in September of 2004. Condit went on to bigger and better things, defeating some very good talent on the road to winning the Welterweight title in the WEC. Prater continued to show some impressive skills, but never broke into a bigger promotion.

There are some interesting pieces to both their skillsets here that should prove to be advantageous to Condit. Prater is primarily a submission fighter who continues to be good on the ground. In his recent bouts however, he has shown a degradation of his finishing skills, taking many fights the distance and winning by decision. Carlos has only gone to decision once in his career, and it’s highly unlikely that it will happen again, so look for Condit to push the pace.

Condit and Prater are both very good on the ground, but Condit does have much better striking skills. He has the ability to finish, and should take out Prater. Prater, however, does have a good shot at defeating Condit since Prater is very tough to finish. I’ll look for this to head to the late rounds before ending.

Leland’s Prediction: Carlos Condit via TKO, 3rd round

Rob McCullough vs. Jamie Varner
Lightweight Title Bout

This is a fight that I think has fallen under the radar as far as upset possibilities go. Varner has a much better ground game than McCullough. In fact, McCullough really hasn’t had to prove his ground game in any of his recent fights. Varner, on the other hand, has a solid ground game that features some excellent wrestling skills that could prove to be tough for “Razor” to deal with.

The biggest difference here is McCullough’s standup. His striking is very good, and his Muay Thai credentials only further solidify his standing a great striker in the weight class. Can Jamie Varner avoid becoming another Richard Crunkilton? It’s tough to say, but we do know that McCullough will come out strong.

Another stat that sticks out is that McCullough has never been finished, and he has proven himself early in his career that he can withstand the ground game against other grapplers. Crunkilton was going to be that test for his ground game, but he was unable to get McCullough down.

There have been some good interviews with Varner suggesting that he has been training very hard, improving his grappling, and coming into this fight with a smart gameplan. For that, I’m going to go with Varner.

Leland’s Prediction: Jamie Varner via submission, 2nd round

Chase Beebe vs. Miguel Torres
Featherweight Title

Another fantastic matchup for the WEC will be the Chase Beebe vs. Miguel Torres clash. Beebe proved that he has fantastic submission defense when he nearly got kneebar’d by Rani Yahya, then survived multiple submission attempts throughout the fight while beating Yahya senseless. Beebe will come in with great wrestling, solid striking, and good ground and pound skills.

Torres is a formidable opponent due to his jiu-jitsu skills being so well-rounded. He’s also currently 20-1, but his knock could be said to be his strength of schedule. He hasn’t fought tough talent in his weight class, but then again, Beebe also hasn’t had a plethora of talent to take on either.

This seems to once again be a wrestler vs. a grappler matchup, the same style matchup that Yahya lost. Beebe has great submission defense, and he has never been finished. Torres has awesome submission ability and good technical striking. I’m going to go for the upset here.

Leland’s Prediction: Miguel Torres via submission, 3rd round

The UFC storms into the Palms in Las Vegas fresh off a spectacular UFC 75 event that featured the unification of the Light Heavyweight Championship,  a destruction of one of the best PRIDE Heavyweight strikers in the MMA world,  and a few surprises from some up and coming fighters such as Houston Alexander and Marcus Davis. What can we expect from the UFC for this Fight Night card on Wednesday night? From the looks of it, we can definitely look forward to such matchups as Kenny Florian vs. Din Thomas and Terry Martin vs. Chris Leben. Also, we will have a number of appearances from The Ultimate Fighter 5 contestants Gray Maynard and Cole Miller as well as the TUF 5 Winner, Nate Diaz. The UFC has put some solid fights on a card that is the precursor to The Ultimate Fighter 6 Season and UFC 76 on Saturday. Let’s take an in-depth look at the UFN 11 fight card.