The federal drug trial of former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic took a low blow, when three men were arrested for allegedly trying to bribe jurors with $100,000.
In response to the arrests, U.S. District Joan Azrack of the Eastern District of New York dismissed the jury just as it was about to hear opening statements. A new jury will be chosen after a 30-day break.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Mustafa Fteja, Vladimir Krasniqi and Afrim Kupa Monday after they allegedly approached a juror and offered to pay $100,000 to return a not guilty verdict, Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco Navarro told Azrack in court on Monday.
In a court complaint, FBI Special Agent Joseph Costello described his investigation into the plot starting Nov. 13, when Fteja called a juror, identified as “John Doe,” and set up a meeting in Staten Island where he offered to pay $100,000 in cash for a “not guilty” verdict in the trial.
The FBI tapped Fteja’s phone and recorded a conversation with Krasniqi in English and Albanian about how they planned to get the juror the money. The next day the FBI staked out the trio of Fteja, Krasniqi and Kupa as they met at Krasniqi’s Staten Island home.
“How they gonna pay [John Doe #1], who’s gonna give the money?” Fteja asked in a recorded phone call, according to a court transcript
“Cash,” responded Kupa.
The three men allegedly obtained a copy of the jury list or jury information from “individuals connected to this trial,” Navarro said.
Fteja was released later Monday on a $150,000 bond and Krasniqi and Kupa were detained.
Gogic is on trial for allegedly trafficking some $1 billion worth of cocaine from Columbia to Europe through the United States. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York U.S Attorney’s office say he moved more than 20 metric tons of narcotics through a network of commercial cargo ships.
If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to life in prison.
