Ramin Rahimian for The Bay Citizen

Professional surfer Anthony Ruffo poses for a portrait in Santa Cruz, Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Professional surfing legend Anthony Ruffo was sentenced to one year in the Santa Cruz County Jail Tuesday after pleading no contest to selling methamphetamine, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

After the judge issued the sentence, Russo was handcuffed and taken to jail, a move that surprised his attorney, Ben Rice, who told the newspaper, "I don't think there is any benefit to anybody this way."

Russo had been in a drug treatment program prior to Tuesday's sentencing.

Last October, The Bay Citizen profiled Russo's battle with drug addiction and "meth’s destructive march through Santa Cruz in recent years, reaching into a surfing community associated more with vitality and communion with the natural world than with drugs."

Among the surfers who spoke on Russo's behalf at Tuesday's hearing was Darryl "Flea" Virostko, who has admitted to overcoming meth addiction.

But Prosecutor Rafael Vazquez told the Mercury News that his office had been "inundated" by emails from people describing the devastating impact meth has had on the surf community and demanding jail time for Ruffo.