Andreas Hale, ESPN
Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault and multiple weapons charges in a California court Friday in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Velasquez, 42, was charged with attempted murder for a February 2022 incident, when he allegedly shot a man accused of assaulting his son multiple times — but wounded the man’s stepfather instead — after a high-speed car chase. He pleaded guilty before Judge Arthur Bocanegra at the Santa Clara County Courthouse in San Jose, California.
According to The Mercury News, the former champion’s trial was scheduled to begin on September 9. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 18, but the sentencing itself is now expected to take place at a later date.
As a result of the plea, the first-degree murder charges against him will be dropped, meaning he will no longer face a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.
“This defendant has chosen to become judge, jury and executioner. His actions endangered innocent bystanders, including young children and their parents who could have been injured or killed when he shot his alleged victim,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “We have excellent law enforcement in this county. Let them do their jobs.”
Velasquez was accused of shooting at a van carrying Harry Goularte — the man accused of assaulting Velasquez’s then-4-year-old son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother — during an 11-mile car chase on the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2022. Goularte was being driven by his stepfather, Paul Bender, as they traveled from Morgan Hill to San Jose. Velasquez allegedly fired multiple shots at the vehicle with a .40-caliber handgun that missed its target and struck Bender in the arm and torso. Velasquez was arrested without incident after the car chase.
Velasquez was released from prison in November 2022 on $1 million bail pending trial. Goularte faces child molestation charges.
The county probation department will produce a sentencing recommendation in the coming months that will weigh the seriousness of the incident with Velasquez’s lack of criminal history and the sexual abuse case in which her son is the reported victim.
