You never get to know what kind of news is going to break throughout the day, but even then something like this is never expected. Exciting, surging Georgian middleweight Avtandil Khurtsidze has been arrested on RICO charges as part of a larger Russian crime syndicate. Sometimes the truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
RICO charges are the type, in the simplest terms, brought up against mafias. Thirty three people in total were brought in and charged with the likes of “murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices.”
Khurtsidze himself is charged with RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. These are serious crimes, but if you’re looking for a silver lining I guess you could say at least they aren’t murder related. Each of the two charges comes with a reported max sentence of twenty years and a $250,000 fine. Needless to say, not only his his career in jeopardy, his ability to live a free life ever again is as well. If convicted and sentenced to the maximums, Khurtsidze would be just shy of 80 upon release.
On his Facebook page, Khurtsidze has reportedly posted the following:
“Dear friends, as you know, I arrived in USA yesterday for training camp for fight against Saunders. Immediately after I arrived there, there was a very big misunderstanding. I hope everything will be resolved in few hours and I will be able to continue preparing for fight.
Thanks, I feel your support every second.”
Hopefully he is being honest and this is indeed all a misunderstanding.
As for the July 8th card, the show will go on without its main event. Officially this fight is only postponed, but it really seems like a longshot that Khurtsidze is going to be free to leave the United States any time soon.
