A federal judge in Brooklyn was forced to dismiss a jury on Monday following allegations that three men attempted to bribe a juror with $100,000 in exchange for a not guilty verdict in the drug trafficking trial of a former heavyweight boxer. Opening statements were expected in the case of Goran Gogic, but instead U.S. District Court Judge Joan Azrack of the Eastern District of New York dismissed the panel. Azrack adjourned the trial for 30 days and said the next jury will serve anonymously, according to EDNY U.S. Attorney spokesman John Marzulli. The alleged bribers, Mustafa Fteja, Valmir Krasniqi and Afrim Kupa, have been arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. The targeted juror is not named in court papers, but is referred to as, "John Doe #1." During Monday’s proceeding, EDNY Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco Navarro told the court that the matter remained under investigation but that the men may have had access to the list of jurors, Marzulli said. The spokesperson noted that Navarro said there was a possible connection to someone involved with the trial. Attorneys for Gogic said they were blindsided by Monday’s events. “We don't know any more about these allegations than the press does,” Gogic's defense attorney Angela Lipsman wrote in an email. “We put a lot of hard work into this case and were ready to start trial this morning and to win fair and square.” Gogic, a Montenegrin national, is accused of conspiring to smuggle cocaine worth some $1 billion to Europe from Colombia via U.S. ports. Gogic boxed professionally in Germany between 2001 and 2021, according to boxing website BoxRec. Court records allege that Fteja called a juror on Nov. 13 and offered the panelist $100,000 in exchange for the acquittal. Federal agents tapped the trio’s phones following that interaction, and later caught a conversation in which Fteja allegedly stated: “How they gonna pay [John Doe #1], who’s gonna, give the money?” “Cash,” Kupa replied. The affidavit, from FBI Special Agent Joseph Costello, does not mention Gogic nor draw any link to him nor his case. Attorney information for Fteja, Krasniqi and Kupa was not immediately available. Gogic is represented by Angela Lipsman and Joseph Corozzo of Rubinstein & Corozzo, Sanford Talkin and Noam Greenspan of Talkin, Muccigrosso & Roberts and George J. Vila, P.A.