Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison for a 2022 San Jose, California, shooting. The sentencing occurred on March 24, 2025, in Santa Clara County court, where Velasquez, 42, was given credit for 1,283 days of time served.
The shooting took place on February 28, 2022, when Velasquez went on an 11-mile high-speed pursuit, following a car containing Harry Goularte, accused of molesting Velasquez’s then-4-year-old son at Goularte’s mother’s daycare center. As he pursued, Velasquez shot several times from a.40-caliber handgun into the car but missed Goularte and struck his stepfather, Paul Bender, in the arm and chest. Bender received non-life-threatening injuries.
Velasquez pleaded no contest to the felony charges in August 2024, including attempted murder, assault, and charges involving weapons. This plea resulted in the latest sentencing. Velasquez was being held without bail from his February 2022 arrest until November 2022, when he was released on $1 million bail and put under house arrest.
Velasquez has apologized for his actions publicly. In an interview on his podcast with former teammate Kyle Kingsbury, he said, “From what I can say from myself, the way that I approached things wasn’t the way to do it. We cannot take the law into our own hands. I know what I did, and I know that what I did was extremely dangerous to other people. Not only people involved but innocent people. I understand what I did and I’m willing to do everything I have to [do] to pay that back.”
His lawyer, Renee M. Hessling, called the sentencing “bittersweet,” recognizing Velasquez’s nature and the adversity he and his family have endured. She said, “Cain Velasquez is a good man, a dedicated father, and a respected member of society. He has accepted responsibility for what he has done and has been held accountable. The sentence imposed today acknowledges.
Harry Goularte, the man accused of molesting Velasquez’s son, stands to face a criminal trial on June 2 on a felony charge of committing a lewd act with a minor. He has entered a not-guilty plea.
Velasquez’s case has received considerable publicity, illustrating the legal and emotional intricacies surrounding the situation of taking justice into one’s own hands. His actions, as much as they were the product of a personal and tragic set of circumstances, had legal ramifications that illustrate the need to remain within the confines of the rule of law.
