BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A former pastor convicted of trying to influence a Mecosta County jury is going to jail.
A 77th District Court judge Friday sentenced Keith Wood to seven consecutive weekends in jail. He must also serve six months of probation, perform community service for 120 days and pay $545 in fines and court costs, according to the court.
The father of eight was arrested in 2015 while handing out literature outside the Big Rapids courthouse, telling jurors in the trial of a local Amish landowner they didn’t have to follow the law. The brochure in question described the controversial proposition that jurors can rule according to their own sense of justice regardless of what the law or a judge says.
It took a separate jury less than a half-hour to find Wood guilty. After the verdict was handed down, Wood said he thought the decision would have “a serious implication on free speech rights.”
His defense attorney argued Wood was not trying to influence jurors, but the chief assistant prosecutor noted Wood didn’t hand out the pamphlets any other day before Nov. 24, 2015.