March 25 (UPI) -- Former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez was sentenced to five years in prison stemming from a 2022 vigilante shooting in California.
The five-year sentence will include time served after Velasquez was arrested in March 2022 on an attempted murder charge and pleaded no contest to all charges of attempted murder, felony assault charges and other related gun charges.
"One man's decision to take the law into his own hands left an innocent man wounded and endangered schoolchildren, teachers, and many others in our community," District Attorney Jeff Rosen stated in a release announcing the sentence Monday. "If you want to do justice in Santa Clara County, please apply for a badge."
He was accused of taking part in an 11-mile, high-speed chase with a man accused of molesting Velasquez's then-4-year-old son when he fired multiple shots into the car of Harry Goularte, hitting Goularte's stepfather in the arm, with a .40-caliber handgun at an intersection of Morgan Hill.
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California prosectors gave a recommendation of 30 years to life in prison.
However, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Arthur Bocanegra's five year sentence will include time served of nearly a year in custody and roughly two years of house arrest.
"I believe that, in some ways, justice was served today despite feeling disappointed that he is back in custody," his attorney, Renee Hassling, told local media noting she expects Velasquez will serve at least another year in prison.
A California native, the two-time UFC heavyweight champion retired after holding the title from 2010-11 and then again from 2012-2015.
Velasquez had been coaching at his gym, American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose.
Meanwhile, Goularte, 46, is facing pending felony child molestation charges and is out on supervised custody after a judge released him with GPS monitoring over the objection of the district attorney.
