Lannis Waters / AP file

John Goodman, left, and his attorneys Mark Shapiro, Guy Fronstin, and Roy Black react as the verdict is announced at the Palm Beach County, Fla., courthouse when the jury reached a verdict in March.

Updated at 4:30 p.m. ET: A Florida judge on Friday sentenced Polo Club founder John Goodman to 16 years in prison on DUI murder charges, after rejecting a bid to have the guilty verdict thrown out due to a juror’s at-home drinking experiment during the trial.

“He left to try and save himself,” West Palm Beach Judge Jeffrey Colbath said of the 48-year-old Goodman’s decision to flee after causing the February 2010 crash that killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson.

Colbath acknowledged that Goodman was “extremely intoxicated at the time,” but said that he should have known better than to leave the crash scene without rendering aid to Wilson, who drowned after his vehicle was hurled by the force of the crash into a canal.

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Goodman, who also was fined $10,000, had faced up to 30 years behind bars. Under terms of the sentence, Goodman will be required to serve a minimum of four years behind bars.

He made headlines in February when he adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend in an effort to protect his fortune from being seized in the Wilsons' lawsuit against him. But last month, he was ordered to pay $46 million to Wilson's family.

Goodman's attorneys are appealing the guilty verdict and asked the judge to allow him to remain free on a $7 million bond. Colbath agreed, but ordered him held until the paperwork is completed, which could take until the middle of next week.

Earlier, Colbath rejected the defense bid to overturn the verdict based on juror Dennis DeMartin's claim that he conducted a drinking experiment the night before he and his fellow jurors convicted Goodman. DeMartin said that he drank the same amount Goodman allegedly drank the night of the crash to test the mogul's state of mind. DeMartin made the allegations in a self-published book, "Believing in the Truth," which was released last week.

Goodman's attorney, Roy Black, had asked Colbath to throw out the conviction based on DeMartin's actions, which he said were a clear case of juror misconduct.

"Is that misconduct? I think that it is," Colbath said. But "I don't think it's material. I don't think it's prejudicial."

In addition to DeMartin's claims, juror Michael St. John said he had felt pressure into convicting Goodman and said he wasn't sure he was guilty.

M. Alex Johnson and Mike Brunker of msnbc.com and Brian Hamacher of NBCMiami.com contributed to this report.

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Updated at 5:05 p.m. ET: A Florida judge denied defense requests Monday to toss out the manslaughter conviction of John Goodman, the millionaire founder of the International Polo Club, because a juror later said he doubted Goodman's guilt. A separate ruling awaits on a second juror's admission that he had conducted an at-home drinking experiment during the trial.

Goodman was convicted in March of DUI manslaughter for driving his Bentley through a stop sign while intoxicated in February 2010 in Wellington, Fla. He smashed into a car driven by 23-year-old Scott Wilson, flipping the car into a canal, where Wilson drowned.

The case drew national attention after Goodman adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend to protect his fortune.

Goodman's attorneys, led by Roy Black — best known for successfully defending William Kennedy Smith against rape charges — have filed several motions seeking a new trial for Goodman or even to throw our his conviction. Judge Jeffrey Colbath ruled Monday on one of them, declaring that juror Michael St. John wasn't "credible" when he said he had felt pressured to convict Goodman before deliberations began and believed that Goodman was actually not guilty.

There was no word on when or whether Colbath would rule on a separate challenge to the conviction, which Black filed last week after a second juror, Dennis DeMartin, self-published a 32-page book titled "Believing In The Truth," in which he writes that he drank three vodka tonics the night before deliberations to recreate Goodman's level of intoxication.

"I wasn't drunk the next morning when I made my decision. I'll tell you that, I was fine," DeMartin said.

That constitutes jury misconduct, Black argued in court documents, accusing DeMartin of having admitted that "he violated his oath as a juror and direct instructions from the court to not engage in extrajudicial experiments and investigations."

"What began as a snowball has now become an avalanche," Black wrote, referring to the jury misconduct allegations.

Legal experts said Black has a good case.

"If we now have a juror doing exactly what was alleged during the trial, that crosses the line," said Michael Salnick, a criminal defense attorney in West Palm Beach, Fla. "It's outrageous. It shocks the conscience and goes against everything the jury system stands for."

Gregg Lerman, another West Palm Beach criminal defense attorney,  voiced similar views. 

"Jurors are not supposed to go home and conduct any experiments," he said. "You're suppose to base your decision on evidence you hear at the trial, not outside influences."

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A jury on Friday found John Goodman, a South Florida polo mogul, guilty of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the Feb. 12, 2010 crash that killed Scott Wilson.

Police say a drunken Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, rammed his black Bentley convertible into Wilson's car two years ago, causing it to roll into a canal. Goodman is accused of leaving the scene and waiting nearly an hour to call 911 as Wilson died.

Goodman was later found to have a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.

Prosecutors argued Goodman likely had 16 to 18 drinks before he got behind the wheel, and said Goodman walked away from the crash scene and called his girlfriend and a friend before finally calling 911, WPTV reported.

Read more about this case on NBCMiami.com

Goodman's attorney, Roy Black, said his client only a had a few drinks that night. He claimed the Bentley malfunctioned and accelerated into the intersection. Black also said Goodman drank after the crash to ease his pain.

The case made headlines after Goodman legally adopted his girlfriend, in what was seen as a legal manuever to protect some of his wealth from a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Wilson's family. Goodman settled with the Wilson family for an unspecified amount earlier this month, shortly before the criminal trial began, according to WPTV.

Goodman is facing up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on April 30.

Read more about his case on WPTV.com

After nearly two weeks of testimony, the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments on Thursday before turning the case over to the six jurors late in the day.

They deliberated for about a half hour before deciding end their deliberations and resume Friday morning.

"The jury in the Goodman case exercised sound judgment in its analysis of the factual and expert evidence in this trial" said State Attorney Peter Antonacci in a statement after the verdict. "Scott Wilson was a young man with a bright future and his life was tragically cut short. I hope that Scott's family now experiences some closure so that the healing process can go forward in this particularly tragic event."

Scott Wilson's mother thanked the jury after the verdict.

"I know that it took a lot for them to come up with a conclusion and justice has been served," Lily Wilson said. "I'm always gonna miss my son."

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from NBCMiami.com.

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The prosecution has rested its case against the wealthy South Florida polo mogul accused in the DUI manslaughter death of a 23-year-old man.

John Goodman, the founder of the International Polo Club in Palm Beach, is charged in the Feb. 12, 2010, crash that killed Scott Wilson.

Prosecutors say a drunken Goodman crashed his Bentley convertible into Wilson’s car, causing it to roll into a canal where Wilson drowned.

Read more about the case on NBCMiami.com                

Goodman’s defense team began presenting its arguments Monday, with attorneys saying they will only need about a day and half to complete their case. The jury could begin deliberating as early as Wednesday.

Goodman adopted his girlfriend, Heather Colby, in February to protect his assets. Colby testified last week but wasn't questioned about the adoption.

Goodman faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty in the crash.

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