Man Sentenced For 'Corrupting' Jury In Morris Co. Sex Crime Case

Morristown NJ

24 March, 2022

4:12 PM

Description

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A judge added five years to a man's prison sentence after the defendant pleaded guilty to corrupting a jury when he was on trial for aggravated sexual assault in 2015. Andrew Pena and another man conspired to distribute inadmissible information outside of the Morris County Courthouse, according to authorities. Pena is serving a 29-year, 4-month prison sentence stemming from previous convictions of aggravated sexual assault and related crimes. He and Michael Campbell were both charged with jury tampering and obstruction related to the incident. But Campbell's charges were dismissed following his 2018 death. In 2007, Pena pulled a woman out of her car outside a Butler bagel shop and sexually assaulted her. Pena was convicted in 2009, but a state appeals court tossed out the conviction four years later. The appeals court determined the trial's presiding judge allowed "prejudicial testimony" that warranted reversal. Read more: Butler Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned But at a new trial for the Butler incident, a Morris County jury in 2015 found Pena guilty of aggravated sexual assault, burglary, sex assault by force of coercion and criminal sexual contact. During the pendency of that trial, he and Campbell tried distributing information to influence the jury. The conspiracy involved duplicating altering and disseminating confidential police reports previously provided to Campbel in accordance with the Rules of Court. Pena represented himself at his recent trial involving jury tampering. A Morris County jury returned guilty verdicts Dec. 16 for corrupting a jury (third-degree), conspiracy to corrupt a jury (third-degree) and conspiracy to commit obstruction (fourth-degree). The five-year sentencing also added two years of parole ineligibility to Pena's prison term. Thanks for reading. Have a news tip? Email [email protected]. Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter and follow the Morristown Patch Facebook page.