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John Goodman guilty of manslaughter in death of Scott Wilson

Posted at 4:18 PM, Oct 28, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-28 18:11:46-04

A Florida polo mogul who tried to adopt his girlfriend has been found guilty of DUI manslaughter.

John Goodman, 51, was taken into custody for sentencing, WPTV reports. He had been on house arrest at his Wellington, Florida home pending the appeal of a 2012 guilty verdict, which was overturned due to jury misconduct.

Goodman made international headlines when he attempted to adopt his 42-year-old girlfriend to protect his assets. The adoption was overturned on appeal.

In 2010, Goodman was arrested for the death of Scott Wilson, 23, an engineer who had recently graduated from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Goodman was driving a Bentley sports car when he ran a stop sign and struck Wilson, whose car flipped into a canal.

Goodman left the scene and Wilson drowned. He claimed that his blood alcohol level of 0.177 was due to drinking after the accident and that his car malfunctioned.

Prosecutors said Goodman drank at a bar before the accident and waited an hour before calling the police.

He was found guilty of manslaughter in 2012 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. But that verdict was successfully appealed due to jury misconduct. Goodman had been serving time in house arrest during the appeal.

The current trial was shaken by a charge of jury tampering, with an arrest made Monday. Goodman's attorneys vowed to appeal again.

Gavin Stern is a national digital producer for the Scripps National Desk. Follow him on twitter at @GavinStern or email him at gavin.stern@scripps.com