John Goodman back in jail, deputies say he tampered with ankle device

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- 15th Judicial Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath may consider a request from the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office to revoke the $7 million bond given to John Goodman during a hearing on Friday.

Goodman -- the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach who had been on house arrest since being convicted of DUI manslaughter earlier this year -- was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday after he tampered with an ankle monitoring device, deputies said.
 
"The front part of it was pried open which allowed water to get inside. I think he thought, you know, in my estimation he thought that was going to disable it. [It] doesn't work like that," said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. "He paid the price for it because he's back in the Gun Club Hotel (Palm Beach County Jail). That's where he's going to stay."
 
Earlier this year, a Palm Beach County jury convicted Goodman in the Feb. 2010 death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson, who drowned after Goodman’s Bentley crashed into Wilson's Hyundai along Lake Worth Road in Wellington.

Colbath sentenced Goodman to 16 years in prison, but he was later released on a $7 million appellate bond and required to wear the ankle monitoring device.

"Think about what's going on in America right now. You know you've got celebrities and people with a lot of money, they get arrested, they break the law. And, after a while they just think the rules don't apply to them. Well, guess what? That don't happen here. He gets treated just like every other person that's in my custody. He violates the rules, he's back in jail," said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

The conditions of John Goodman's post-conviction release are an extraordinary accommodation far beyond the means of the vast majority of criminal defendants. If the facts support the conclusion that Mr. Goodman actively attempted to violate those conditions, then it is clearly time to end his privileged treatment and relieve him of the burden of paying for his private "jailers," according to a statement from attorney Jack Scarola. He issued the comments on behalf of Chris Searcy who represents Scott Wilson's mother Lili.