Joe Son

Early life

Son was born in South Korea. He moved to California at an early age.

Mixed martial arts career

Son was a mixed martial arts fighter and retired with a record of 0–4. Though he had appeared before in Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 3 as Kimo Leopoldo's cornerman, Son had his proper debut at the UFC 4 event, entering the tournament billed as a taekwondo black belt and founder of a style called "Jo Son Do". He was pitted against kenpo fighter Keith Hackney, whom Son outweighted by 30 pounds. Son was able to perform a takedown and a guillotine choke attempt, but Hackney countered by punching Son's groin repeatedly, which was legal under the rules of the event. Keith then performed a blood choke with his fingers and Son tapped out, being eliminated from the tournament.

After his fight in UFC, he competed a match for the K-1 kickboxing federation, facing established star Nobuaki Kakuda. The much heavier Son initially led the pace with body shots and knees, scoring a mild knockdown by right hook, but he was eventually knocked out by Kakuda via high kick and punches.

In 2002, Son debuted for Japanese promotion PRIDE Fighting Championships, fighting Takada Dojo exponent Yusuke Imamura at the PRIDE The Best Vol.2. He infamously wore a leopard thong with the PRIDE logo and sported eye makeup, as well as a bowler hat at his entrance, and hugged Imamura during the staredown. The bout was short, and Son quit after he was taken down and almost slid out the ring, claiming an elbow injury.

On April 12, 2002, Son also took part in Xtreme Pankration 2, wherein he faced Joe Moreira. After a brief exchange of strikes, Moreira landed a hit which drew blood, and Son then refused to continue fighting, being called the bell. The result was officially played as "submission (terror)". Son would return to PRIDE in July, facing Jukei Nakajima, and he once again gave up after being injured by being thrown on his head by the Japanese fighter.

Son was also a professional wrestler in Japan for a short time, wrestling Shinya Hashimoto at the WRESTLE-1 event and working as singer and dancer for HUSTLE's third event.

Acting career

Son is best known for his role in the 1997 blockbuster movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery as Random Task, a parody of the James Bond character Oddjob. Son has also appeared in several other movies, including Joshua Tree, the first two Shootfighter films, and Bloodfist V: Human Target. He also had a leading part as the main villain in the Lorenzo Lamas action film Viper in 1994.

Criminal convictions

Son pleaded guilty to felony vandalism on May 16, 2008, he was sentenced to 60 days in prison and was placed on probation after his prison sentence ended. On August 18, 2008, he was taken into custody and given an additional 90 days in prison, due to a probation violation for failing to report to the Department of Probation and keep them informed of his current residence. As a condition of his original plea agreement, Son was required to provide a DNA sample. In early October 2008, his DNA sample was linked to a 1990 Christmas Eve gang rape. Already in custody for a probation violation, Son was arrested at the Theo Lacy facility on October 7, 2008.

In October 2008, Son was charged by California authorities in relation to his participation in a 1990 gang rape. He was initially charged in Orange County, California, with five counts of rape, two felony counts of forcible sodomy, two felony counts of sodomy in concert by force, seven felony counts of forcible oral copulation, and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object by force. He faced a maximum sentence of 275 years to life if convicted.

Son and an accomplice tortured and repeatedly raped the victim before releasing her with her pants tied around her eyes. During the trial, the woman said that Son told her, "It's Christmas. This is your lucky day." Before jury selection began for his trial in early August 2011, the initial charges against Son were dropped having expired due to the statute of limitations. Son was then charged with conspiracy to commit torture and murder, crimes which have no statute of limitations. In late August, Son was found guilty of one felony count of torture.

During the trial, the Orange County District Attorney's Office maintained that both Son and his co-defendant, Santiago Lopez Gaitan, pistol-whipped their female victim, repeatedly threatened to kill her, and raped her before finally releasing her. Gaitan, 40, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of kidnapping, sodomy by force in concert, rape in concert, forcible oral copulation, and forcible rape with a sentencing enhancement for committing rape while armed with a firearm. He was sentenced Jan. 28, 2011, to 17 years and four months in state prison. On September 19, 2011, Son was sentenced to 7 years to life.

In October 2011, Son was accused of killing his cellmate, Michael Thomas Graham, a convicted sex offender. The murder happened on October 10, 2011, on "B" Yard Reception, building 5 at Wasco State Prison. The beating occurred at 5:25 PM and Graham died 25 minutes later. After the murder occurred, Son was moved to solitary confinement. On September 13, 2013, Son was officially charged with Graham's murder. At his trial in 2017 he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and received a 27-year sentence.