| Photo: Mixed Martial Arts |
| Would you take your marijuana back away from Matt “The Law” Lindland if he stole it? |
“Ultimate Fighter” and former Republican political candidate Matt “The Law” Lindland is being sued for allegedly stealing six mature marijuana plants from a patient.
In a suit filed March 3 in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon, plaintiff Gonzalo Aldana Gamboa says Lindland offered last year to let Gamboa grow cannabis under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program on Lindland’s property in Eagle Creek, reports James Pitkin at Willamette Week.
Gamboa registered the grow site with the state of Oregon and harvested six mature plants last October, according to the lawsuit. Lindland helped Gamboa load the plants into a U-Haul truck and told him he was moving them to his shed to dry, the suit says.
But when Gamboa returned a month later, Lindland wouldn’t let him have his harvest, the lawsuit says.
Lindland, 40, who lost a 2008 for state House District 52 as the GOP nominee, didn’t respond to email and phone messages asking for comment. He is a 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling and has competed for such promotions as MMA, UFC, the International Fight League and, most recently, Strikeforce, reports Sherdog.com.
The suit, filed on Gamboa’s behalf by Portland lawyer William Macke, seeks $122,880 for the lost cannabis plants. That comes to more than $20,000 per plant.
Under Oregon law, medical marijuana growers can charge patients to cover the expenses of cultivation. But growers are forbidden under state law from turning a profit.
Macke acknowledges his client, Gamboa, was forbidden from profiting on the marijuana plants, but he said his client is nonetheless suring for the “estimated street value” of the lost weed.
“There is an economic value,” Macke said. “I think it could be argued that that’s what it’s worth.”
“It may be a little bit of a long shot legally,” Macke admitted on determining the weed’s value.