Cain Velasquez attorney: Victims seeking ‘exorbitant amount of money’ in restitution
Cain Velasquez is already serving his prison term after he was sentenced to five years behind bars following a no-contest plea on numerous charges, including attempted murder, but he’s still dealing with the fallout from that calamitous car chase in 2022.
The latest court hearing for Velasquez took place on Wednesday, although he didn’t make an appearance, as his attorney Renee Hessling dealt with a restitution hearing, which determines a financial penalty paid to the victims in the case.
While the judge ultimately issued a continuance to a new hearing setting date on June 3, Hessling argued that there’s still a lot of work to be done before restitution can be determined due to the requests from the victims.
“The victims in this case are seeking an exorbitant amount of money,” Hessling said in court. “Defense position is that [is] unreasonable. So we do intend on litigating this.”
Under California law, victims in crimes like these are due restitution from the person convicted, but it’s still to be determined how much Velasquez will actually owe.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was sentenced to prison after he went on an 11 mile, high speed chase pursuing a car containing Harry Goularte, a man accused of molesting Velasquez’s young son at a daycare owned by his mother. Velasquez fired several rounds from a handgun at the vehicle but it was Goularte’s stepfather Paul Bender, who ended up being shot but sustaining non-life threatening injuries.
Goularte faces separate charges related to his case with his next court date expected in June. Velasqeuz’s family also fired a civil lawsuit against Goularte and his mother’s daycare in relation to that same case involving the fighter’s son.
As for what comes next in Velasquez’s restitution hearing, Hessling made it clear that there’s still information she’s seeking from the victims before attempting to come to some sort of an agreement on the amount the retired UFC fighter will owe.
At this stage, Hessling said there are several outstanding issues that need to be dealt with or potentially litigated in court during the actual restitution hearing at a later date.
“There definitely is restitution owed by Mr. Velasquez here,” Hessling said. “However, there are some claims that he owes money for their daycare and they’re asking for $1 million dollars in restitution on that end.
“That is certainly something that we are litigating but [Deputy District Attorney Aaron French] is correct that I think we can come to some stipulations on some of these issues and then we can narrow down what is left from there.”
French, who was appearing on behalf of the prosecution, stated that the victims in the case retained their own attorney to appear at the actual restitution hearing, but they’re also hopeful for a swift resolution to this case.
“I know the victims are eager to move past this chapter of their life,” French stated, “Hopefully the defense will have the documents they’re seeking by the next court date and we can set a hearing following that.”
Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson set a new for the next court date on June 3 for the restitution setting, which means an actual date for that hearing should be determined at that time.
Velasquez is currently serving his prison sentence at Wasco State Prison in California with the ex-UFC fighter eligible for parole as early as March 2026.