They tried to blow the fight.
Mob-connected knuckleheads tried to bribe a federal juror $100,000 to find former heavyweight boxer Goran Gogic not guilty, the feds alleged Monday – a roundhouse punch that KO’d the accused cocaine kingpin’s trial on its first day.
Judge Joan Azrack stunningly dissolved the jury in Gogic’s drug trafficking case as the feds accused three Staten Island goons — Mustaga Fteja, Valmir Krasniqi and Afrim Kupa — of jury tampering.
Goran Gogic during a boxing match. Bongarts/Getty ImagesThe Brooklyn federal trial revolving around one of the biggest cocaine busts in US history will reconvene in 30 days, with an anonymous and partially sequestered jury, Azrack ruled.
Kupa, 52, who allegedly was caught on a covert recording offering the failed six-figure bribe, has ties to the Albanian mob and the Gambino crime family, prosecutors said during the trio’s arraignment Monday afternoon.
“This defendant is both connected to Balkan organized crime and Italian organized crime,” said Assistant District Attorney Emily Dean.
A hastily filed court complaint details the fast-breaking FBI investigation that unfolded starting Nov. 13, when Fteja called the juror – identified only as “John Doe” – and offered money to render an acquittal.
The feds – facing the trial’s start within days – scrambled to tap the trio’s phones and surveil them, court documents reveal.
The 11th-hour investigation yielded a recording of the shady trio’s conversation inside a Staten Island home on Sunday where they discussed — in English and Albanian — their alleged plan to bribe the juror, according to the complaint.
“How they gonna pay [John Doe #1], who’s gonna, give the money?” Fteja said, the complaint states.
Gogic is a former heavyweight boxer. Bongarts/Getty Images“Cash,” Kupa responded.
“You’re gonna give it to me? How much?” Fteja said.
“One, one hundred thousand,” Kupa confirmed.
Prosecutors revealed the alleged bribery plot Monday morning in a courtroom stunner, right before opening arguments in the trial were scheduled to begin.
“Given the nature of the charges and the individuals involved, the government believes that the jury needs protection,” Assistant US Attorney Francisco Navarro Jr. told Azrack.
The revelation postpones the bombshell trial of Gogic, 46, who has pleaded not guilty to accusations he trafficked 22 tons of cocaine worth more than $1 billion from Colombia to Europe through the US.
The 6-foot-5 Gogic, who hails from Montenegro, fought professionally in Germany from 2001 to 2012 and racked up a 21-4-2 record, according to Sport & Note, a boxing website.
Gogic was arrested for alleged cocaine trafficking. APBut prosecutors believe Gogic went from the undercard to the underworld – an accusation that came to light in 2022, when he was arrested trying to board an international flight from Miami to Zurich, Switzerland.
The feds revealed Gogic had been indicted on charges of violating the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act for allegedly heading a vast drug trafficking network.
The punchy drug pusher conspired with cocaine suppliers in Colombia to ship tons of drugs on commercial cargo ships, with the help of shady crewmembers, the feds alleged.
Three of Gogic’s alleged shipments were intercepted and seized by feds in February, March and June 2019, officials said.
The final cocaine seizure was worth more than $1 billion and counted as one of the largest in US history, the feds said.
Gogic has been jailed without bail in Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest, as prosecutors argued he’s a dangerous high-level narco-trafficker for Balkan cartels.
His attorney didn’t return a request for comment.
During the arraignment of the strongarm trio, Judge James Cho ordered Kupa – who was on supervised release after drug trafficking and bank heist convictions – held without bail.
Krasniqi, 35, a Kosovo national who has lived in the US for 13 years, also has ties to Albanian organized crime, prosecutors contended.
He works as a manager for Positano, a Bay Ridge restaurant that’s a frequent mob hangout, Dean said.
Prosecutors alleged that Krasniqi was caught on a tape recording saying, “It’s done” – a statement they linked to the bribe deal.
But Krasniqi’s attorney, Mathew Mari, denied his client’s involvement in the whole scheme — and argued he got put in that place after “someone else asked him to have the meeting at his house.”
“He said, ‘This is done, right?’ Like ‘the meeting is done, right?” Mari said, claiming that Krasniqi was referring to the meeting itself inside his home.
Krasniqi was also remanded without bail, court records show.
Fteja, who didn’t appear to have mob ties, was released on a $150,000 bond.
Dean said prosecutors believe there are more conspirators in the scheme.
Fteja, Krasniqi and Kupa each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on their charges.
