Former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez was sentenced to jail for five years in relation to a shooting that happened more than two years ago.
Velasquez was sentenced by a Santa Clara County court for shooting at a vehicle in 2022 that had a man in it suspected of molesting his young son.
His attorney told NBC Bay Area’s Ian Cull that it’s expected that his client will serve one year due to credit for time served in jail and the home confinement that he’s had with an ankle monitor.
The former UFC heavyweight champion ended up striking and injuring another person who had also been in the vehicle, according to authorities.
Velasquez, 42, had pleaded no contest to attempted murder, felony assault charges and other gun-related charges stemming from the February 2022 incident.
The courtroom was packed and had been described as “standing room only” by NBC Bay Area as prosecutors, the victim and the victim’s family and Velasquez’s wife and daughter spoke during sentencing.
The five-year sentence fell somewhere in between what prosecutors had been calling for — 30 years to life in jail — and what the defense was looking for, which was time served and probation.
Velasquez spoke at the sentencing hearing and said he was “ashamed and regretful” over how he acted the day of the incident.
“I am truly sorry. My actions were reckless. I am ashamed and regretful for how I handled myself. Out of all of this, I wish safe healing for my family, the Goulartes, and the community,” he said, according to KRON 4.
Prosecutors argued that Velasquez attempted vigilante justice on Feb. 28, 2022, when he chased down the pickup truck of Harry Goularte, who had been accused of molesting one of Velasquez’s children.
heavyweight champion, was arrested in 2022 for trying to kill the man he
claims molested his 4-year-old son. AP
Velasquez fired through the windshield of his vehicle and missed Goularte and struck Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, who had been in the truck as well at the time.
During a victim impact statement, Bender said that Goularte applied pressure to his bullet wounds until paramedics arrived and called for Velasquez to receive the maximum punishment.
“The defendant chose to impose and execute a death sentence for Harry Goularte in the middle of the day, in the middle of the streets,” Deputy District Attorney Aaron French said in court. “He pursued and hunted [Goularte].”
Goularte is facing one felony count of lewd acts with a minor for the allegations of molesting Velasquez’s son and his jury trial is set to begin on June 2.
County Hall of Justice on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. AP
The Velasquez family is also suing Goularte in civil court along with his business, Certified Custom Concrete, his mother Patricia Goularte, and her business, Patty’s Childcare, and his stepfather Paul Bender.
“If he could go back in time, he would not make that choice. He understands that was the wrong choice. But sit in his shoes for a minute. As a parent it’s painful to even think about,” Velasquez’s defense attorney said in court on Monday.