Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and past WWE performer Cain Velasquez is currently listed for an eligible parole date of March 2026, which would get him out of prison just a year after being sentenced for attempted murder.
Velasquez is currently being held in Wasco State Prison, per the California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS). The location is where some male inmates in the state are sent initially while the level of security or other requirements they may need is determined, per Greg Hill & Associates.
It’s mentioned on the database that parole could be available as soon as a year from now, although the date can change. Velasquez’s eligibility could either be moved forward or delayed, depending on a variety of factors.
Participation in rehabilitative programming could get Velasquez out sooner than his projected exit, for example. On the flipside, his parole date could get pushed down the line if he disobeys the prison’s institutional rules.
Velasquez was handed a five-year sentence by Judge Arthur Bocanegra last month after he pled guilty to an early 2022 incident where he chased down a man alleged to have molested his child.
Velasquez, now 42, engaged in a high-speed car chase three years ago with Harry Goularte Jr., who is still heading to trial later this year for a charge of lewd acts with a minor.
The car chase ended with Velasquez discharging a firearm into a vehicle carrying Goularte Jr., not striking him but instead his stepfather. The stepfather suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Velasquez initially entered a plea of not guilty but changed his stance as a 2024 trial date neared. In the weeks leading up to his sentencing, Velasquez told The Kyle Kingsbury Podcast that he had regrets about his actions.
“The way that I handled this is not the way to do it,” he said. “We cannot put the law in our own hands … I know what I did, and I know what I did was very dangerous to other people. You know, not just to the people involved but just innocent people. I understand what I did and I’m willing to do everything I have to pay back that.”
While handed five years, Velasquez was given credit for 1,283 days – roughly three and a half years – he previously spent in custody or on house arrest.
