Biography

Was arrested in Los Angeles in May 2008 and pleaded guilty to felony vandalism (after kicking the door of his roommate's car) for which he was sentenced to probation and 60 days in jail. As part of his plea agreement, Joe had to submit a DNA sample, which was linked to an unsolved gang rape that occurred on Christmas Eve, 1990. Son was already in custody due to having violated the conditions of his probation and was arrested on October 7, 2008 and initially charged with numerous felonies, including rape. He faced up to 275 years in jail if convicted, but the initial charges were dropped because by the time his trial started, the statute of limitations had expired. In September 2011, he was sentenced to 7 years to life in prison after being convicted of one felony count of torture (his accomplice was sentenced to 17 years and 4 months).

On 10 October 2011, shortly after he had begun serving his sentence, he was accused of beating his cell mate to death. He was charged with assault with force causing death in 2013 and after a trial in 2017 he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to an additional 27 years in prison on top of the 7 to life he was serving for the torture conviction.

Lost to Keith Hackney at the Ultimate Fighting Championships 4 on December 16, 1994.

Inventor of the martial art of Joe Son Do.

He made his third attempt to capture a world title but lost to Brazil's Joe Moreira at Pankration 2 Championships on April 12, 2002.