Man sentenced to 5 years in state prison for corrupting a jury, obstruction charges in Morris County
MORRISTOWN, NJ (Morris County) – A man has been sentenced to five years in state prison for corrupting a jury and obstruction charges,, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll.
The Honorable Ralph E. Amirata sentenced Andrew Pena, 54, on March 11 to serve 5 years in New Jersey State Prison with 2 years of parole ineligibility consecutive to the State Prison term is he currently serving, Carroll said.
On December 16, 2021, a Morris County Jury returned guilty verdicts on counts of third-degree corrupting a jury, third-degree conspiracy to corrupt a jury, fourth-degree obstruction, and fourth-degree conspiracy to commit obstruction, Carroll said.
The State was represented at trial by Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Sandler. At Pena’s request, he was permitted to proceed pro se and represent himself at trial.
Pena is currently serving a 29 year, 4 month sentence of incarceration stemming from the previous convictions for aggravated sexual assault and related crimes.
The charges arise from an incident that occurred in November 2015 while Pena was on trial for aggravated sexual assault and related offenses that occurred in 2007. During the pendency of the November 2015 trial, an investigation began into attempts by Pena to influence that jury and obstruct the administration of law, Carroll said.
The investigation ultimately revealed that Pena had conspired with another individual, Michael Campbell, formerly of Wharton, to distribute information that was previously deemed inadmissible during trial, in an effort to influence the jury. Confidential police reports, provided to Pena in accordance with the Rules of Court, were duplicated, altered, and then disseminated in the vicinity of the Morris County Courthouse, Carroll said.
In 2015, both Pena and Campbell were charged in connection with the alleged jury tampering incident. In February 2016, Campbell entered a guilty plea to fourth-degree obstruction related to the incident. The charges against Campbell were ultimately dismissed in 2018 following his death, Carroll said.
Prosecutor Carroll acknowledged the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and Court Services Division, and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit for contributing to the investigation and successful prosecution of this incident.
