A former UFC champion who had been under fire Cain Velasquez was given a five-year jail term on Monday for the shooting incident in 2022 as he chased a man who had molested his son.
According to the sentence handed out in Santa Clara County, Velasquez had entered a no-contest plea to the attempted murder and felony assault charges as well as related misdemeanour possibilities for firearms use last August. The district attorney’s office termed that scenario as a “vigilante shooting spree.” He will be guaranteed credit for the time he has already served.
Two-time UFC heavyweight champion Velasquez fired his weapon numerous times in February 2022 at a vehicle containing three people. It includes 46-year-old Harry Goularte, who has been charged with child molestation, according to the district attorney’s office.
“It’s bittersweet, and we still hope things will turn out where he doesn’t go to prison,” said Renee Hessling, Velasquez’s defense attorney. “Throughout it all, Cain has shown courage and strength of character,” Hessling said. “He has taken responsibility for his actions and has been held accountable. Today’s sentence reflects that complexity, while acknowledging the man behind the headlines.”
Just days prior to being shot at, Goularte had been arrested for sexually assaulting a four-year-old child using a daycare facility run in his family. He was released immediately after that without bail. Officials said he was under house arrest and went to collect an electronic monitoring device when he was confronted by Velasquez.
The shooting included an 11-mile (approximately 17.7 km) vehicular pursuit in which Velasquez shot at Goularte’s truck. According to the police, Goularte was not hurt, but his stepfather, who was driving, received two gunshot wounds.
He opened up on a podcast with his ex-teammate Kyle Kingsbury, where he said that his way of approaching the situation was “not the right way to handle it.”