Third defendant admits to attempting to bribe jurors in Goran Gogić trial

Afrim Kupa (53), the third defendant in the attempted bribery of jurors in the Goran Gogić trial, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to obstruction of justice.

He admitted that he tried to bribe a juror to vote for an acquittal in the trial of a Montenegrin citizen accused of smuggling almost 20 tons of cocaine.

Kupa is the last of the three defendants to plead guilty to the crime, after Mustafa Fteja (54) and Valmir Krasnići (35) pleaded guilty on February 19 and March 4, 2026, respectively.

In mid-November 2025, the defendants offered to pay a juror in the criminal case United States v. Goran Gogić up to $100.000 in exchange for a vote for acquittal at the end of the trial.

Kupa, Krasniqi and Fteja face up to 20 years in prison.

The guilty pleas were announced by Joseph Nosella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James C. Barnacle Jr., FBI Assistant Director in charge of the New York office, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Any attempt to influence the integrity of our judicial system will be met with swift and serious consequences," said Nosela.

"These defendants admitted to obstructing a federal criminal trial in Brooklyn by attempting to bribe a juror, which strikes at the very core of the rule of law. Our office is dedicated to protecting the judicial process and ensuring that those who attempt to corrupt it are fully held accountable," the US attorney said.

Nosela thanked the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations for its work in the Gogić case.

"The defendants' attempt to influence the outcome of a criminal trial has compromised the integrity of our nation's justice system. Let today's guilty plea demonstrate the FBI's commitment to holding accountable any individual who attempts to interfere with our judicial processes," Barnacle said.

According to court documents, the jury in the case against Gogić was selected on November 3 and 5, 2025. Between November 13 and 17, Kupa, Krasnići, and Fteja attempted to bribe a juror with a cash payment in exchange for agreeing to vote that Gogić was not guilty.

The prosecution claims that Krasniqi organized a meeting between Kupa and Fteja on Staten Island, where it was agreed that Fteja would offer the juror money for an acquittal.

Fteja then allegedly conveyed an offer to the juror on November 15 - that he would be paid up to $100.000 to vote for acquittal at the trial.

The day before the scheduled start of the trial, the three defendants allegedly worked out in detail a plan to pay money to a juror, and the very next day, Kupa and Krasniqi were arrested at their homes in Staten Island.

According to investigators, a document with the juror's name, home address and place of employment was found in Kupa's possession, while Krasniqi had a digital photo of the juror that he sent to Fteja.

Gogić's trial descends into chaos

As stated in the indictment and other court documents, the trial of Goran Gogić was scheduled to begin before U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrak on November 17, 2025.

A jury was selected and opening statements were scheduled to begin on November 17, 2025, but the trial was halted after the discovery of attempted bribery. The jury was then dismissed just before opening statements.

Gogić is represented in the proceedings by Joseph Corozzo Jr., son of the late Joseph "Joe Joe" Corozzo, former consigliere of the Gambino crime family.

Gogić was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Law on the Suppression of Drug Smuggling at Sea and three counts of violating that law.

According to the indictment, between May 2018 and July 2019, Gogić teamed up with others to distribute huge quantities of cocaine via commercial cargo ships.

Gogic allegedly coordinated with cocaine sources in Colombia, crew members who transported tons of cocaine on commercial cargo ships on the high seas, and a network of port workers who transported and unloaded cocaine in Europe via the United States.

American authorities seized three such shipments, totaling almost 20.000 kilograms of cocaine.

If convicted, Gogić faces life in prison.

The trial of the former Montenegrin heavyweight descended into chaos in November last year, after the FBI uncovered a plan to bribe a juror with $100.000 during the weekend before opening statements.

After an investigation, federal prosecutors said they found protected legal documents in Gogic's cell at the MDC detention center in Brooklyn, including a photo of a witness's daughter, as well as details of alleged witness intimidation ahead of the trial, according to court filings.

The defense team argued that Gogić did not intentionally leave any protected documents, although some pages may have been unintentionally mixed in with the pile of unprotected documents that the law firm brought during visits to the prison.

"While none of us intended to leave any protected material with Mr. Gogić, we acknowledge that we did not have our eye on these materials at all times," wrote co-defendant Anđela Lipsman.

"For example, we wouldn't carry bulky materials with us to the restroom or when going to the vending machine. And because there were so many documents, it would be difficult to spot if any were missing after the visit."

The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York submitted a motion to Judge Joan Azrak at the beginning of the year, which Vijesti has access to, requesting that the law firm Rubinstein & Corozzo LLP be removed from Gogić's defense, claiming that the lawyers, including Joseph Corozzo Jr., have a conflict of interest.

The prosecution alleges that the lawyers could be witnesses in the investigation into juror bribery and obstruction of justice, and specifically claims that Koroco is a "subject" of the ongoing investigation into attempted juror bribery and obstruction of justice.

Joseph Koroco Jr., the lawyer for boxer Goran Gogic, argues that he should not be removed from Gogic's drug trafficking case based on "baseless" charges of jury tampering and witness intimidation, alleging that federal authorities have been trying to "get him" since the 1990s.

Corozzo Jr., the son of the late alleged Gambino crime family consigliere Joseph "Joe Joe" Corozzo, made the point in a court filing Friday, two weeks after federal prosecutors named him as the subject of a criminal investigation and asked that his law firm be removed from Gogic's case.

Koroco's co-counsel Angela Lipsman objected to this in a letter to Judge Azrak, stating that the FBI's unsuccessful attempts to find evidence that Koroco was involved in racketeering date back to the 1990s.

"We know perfectly well that there is no love between us and the US Attorney's Office and, given the government's position in this case, there is none in sight," she wrote.