SAN JOSE — Cain Velasquez, the former UFC champion facing an attempted murder trial for a violent 2022 car chase in which he repeatedly shot at a man accused of molesting his son — but wounded the man’s stepfather instead — pleaded Friday to his charges in exchange for potential sentencing leniency.
Velasquez, 42, entered the no-contest plea in a San Jose courtroom in front of Judge Arthur Bocanegra. Velasquez was formally set to begin trial Sept. 9, and risked a potential sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole had he gone to trial and been convicted by a jury of the charges of attempted murder and nine gun assault crimes.
Instead, Velasquez will be convicted but will not be subject to a mandatory life sentence, per a plea agreement with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. A sentencing hearing has been set for Oct. 18, and Bocanegra under the plea agreement has discretion to give Velasquez anything from probation to life in prison.
Velasquez and his attorney, Renee Hessling, declined comment after Friday’s court hearing. Velasquez remains out of custody in accordance with his existing bail and supervised monitoring conditions.
Velasquez’s arrest and subsequent charges were polarizing in the Bay Area and beyond because of his international fame from a decorated mixed-martial arts career — fighting out of San Jose — and sympathy for the father of a then-4-year-old boy who reported being molested by the adult son of his daycare provider.
The crimes also ran counter to the public consensus about Velasquez’s demeanor, who despite his controlled fury that won him two UFC heavyweight titles, was generally known as being serene and soft-spoken outside the octagon as a family man and coach at the American Kickboxing Academy in South San Jose, the school he represented during his professional ascent.
But the technical facts of the case have been largely undisputed, and Velasquez’s previous attorney, celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, sought to refocus attention in court and in public on Velasquez acting out of rage from the idea of his son being sexually abused. Earlier court filings from the defense asserted that Velasquez suffered impulse control issues and brain injuries from over a decade of prizefighting; he retired in 2019.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Aaron French, the lead prosecutor in the case, repeatedly argued the attack was premeditated given that the chase and shooting occurred three days after Harry Goularte Jr., the man charged with molesting Velasquez’s child, appeared in court and was granted monitored release.
On the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2022, Goularte was being driven by his stepfather, Paul Bender, and was also accompanied by his mother when they all drove from Morgan Hill toward San Jose so Goularte could get fitted for an ankle monitor in accordance with his pretrial supervision by the county.
Shortly after getting into his parents’ pickup truck in Morgan Hill, authorities say Velasquez first shot at Goularte, touching off an 11-mile high-speed car chase through Morgan Hill that ended near Monterey Road and Bailey Avenue on the southern reaches of San Jose.
Prosecutors allege that with commute traffic coming off nearby Highway 101 and a nearby school letting out about 500 feet away, Velasquez used his pickup to ram Bender’s truck before he fired several shots at the three with a .40-caliber pistol, wounding Bender in the arm and torso, then fled.
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A short time later, police say Velasquez pulled over and surrendered to a Morgan Hill police officer, informing the officer that he had a handgun in his truck. Investigators would later allege that Velasquez had begun following Goularte’s parents as they left their San Martin residence, which houses the daycare business where the sexual abuse allegations were reported to have occurred.
Paul Bender and his wife, Patti Bender, who was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting but was not injured, were in the court gallery for Velasquez’s plea Friday.
Goularte was ordered to stand trial on one felony charge of a lewd and lascivious act with a child. His case remains in pretrial proceedings.
To this point, Velasquez has been out of jail custody since being granted $1 million bail and monitored release after the November 2022 preliminary examination that advanced his case toward trial. He has been allowed to participate in wrestling and mixed-martial arts events in California and Arizona, in accordance with his release terms that allow court-approved travel for work.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
