Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been sentenced to 5 years in prison, minus time served, for a 2022 shooting.
Velasquez, 42, appeared at a sentencing hearing Monday at Santa Clara County Hall of Justice in San Jose, Calif., after pleading no contest to charges, including attempted murder, and was handed a five-year sentence, in line with NBC Bay Area.
Seventy spectators were readily available within the courtroom, in line with KTVU FOX 2. Impact statements from Velasquez, his 15-year-old daughter, and his wife were read, along with statements from shooting goal Harry Goularte and his family.
While prosecutors asked the judge for 30 years to life, the defense requested no prison time. Judge Arthur Bocanegra handed out his final ruling after a lunch recess.
The fees stemmed from a February 2022 incident when Velasquez drove his truck in a high-speed chase in pursuit of one other vehicle. Velasquez fired a handgun on the vehicle, which was later revealed to be carrying Goularte and family, who ran the daycare Velasquez’s then-4-year-old son attended. Goularte had been arrested days prior for allegedly molesting the young boy repeatedly.
The gunfire from Velasquez penetrated the Goularte’s vehicle and struck Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, causing an injury to the person’s arm. The Goularte family has repeatedly voiced fear for his or her lives.
Velasquez spent nearly nine months incarcerated in a jail cell and was denied bail until an appeal resulted in a unique judge’s approval of conditional release. Judge Bocanegra pointed to Velasquez’s standing locally and the swell of public support and protest as boosting his decision.
Velasquez had remained on GPS monitoring and was permitted to partake in various skilled wrestling matches and MMA-related events.
In an interview days prior to the sentencing, Velasquez said he fully accepted responsibility for his actions and was willing to face the music.
“What I did was not correct,” Velasquez said. “I understand that. I paid, and I’ll pay whatever else so far as what I even have to do to pay all that back. I don’t think I will pay it back, but I can at all times learn from my mistakes and help others. It’s just information that you just never know anybody. Trust your kids. Have that open communication along with your kids. While you do go to the toilet with them when (they’re) very young, you possibly can work your way in there so far as talking to them about what’s appropriate and what just isn’t, so that they know to inform you and so they can at all times inform you at any time when something just isn’t correct. So so far as that goes, it’s mainly that the more we get consciously aware of ourselves, the more that light shines on dark things, especially things like that.”
“… Even with that family and what they’ve done, I can’t have hate like that for them because there are things that I even have to maneuver on to and provides like to my kids and provides like to the people around. I’ve got to share this with everybody, so I can’t give hate to them in any respect. I wish them healing in one of the best ways, whatever that’s. I wish that for them. I understand that they’ve traumas, as well. It’s not right to spread it – no. I’m glad they themselves have stopped because they will’t practice any more so far as daycare. With my very own time, I’ve forgiven them and all the things else, and I do know my kids are great.”
Along with attempted murder, Velasquez had been charged with shooting at a motorcar or aircraft (one count), assault with a firearm (three counts), assault with a deadly weapon (three counts), willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle (one count) and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony (one count). He faced 20 years to life for the attempted murder charge alone.
Goularte has pleaded not guilty to 1 charge of lewd acts with a minor and is ready for a June 2 trial.
There’s also a separate civil lawsuit filed by the Velasquez’s against the Goularte family and their associated businesses. The daycare, which was run by Goularte’s mother Patricia, has shut down.
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