Juror Gets 5 Months in Prison for Tampering

A juror in the election fraud trial of businessman Michael Goland was sentenced Monday to five months in prison for offering the defendant his choice of verdicts.

Barry Kuhnke, 33, of Huntington Beach, also was sentenced to five months in a halfway house and two years probation. He was ordered to report to prison by Nov. 19.

Kuhnke pleaded guilty to passing a note to Goland during jury deliberations in Los Angeles, telling the pro-Israel activist he could arrange for one of two verdicts in the case, but wanted to know which outcome Goland preferred.

Goland was convicted in May on charges stemming from an illegal $120,000 campaign contribution made to a minor candidate as part of his attempt to manipulate the 1986 U.S. Senate race into a victory for Alan Cranston (D-Calif.)

In sentencing Kuhnke, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie called the juror’s actions “an assault on the criminal justice system and for all that it stands.”