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Orange County Veterinarian Louis Grasso, age 65, of Pine Bush, and trainer Richard Banca, age 47, of Middletown, were sentenced to 50 months in prison, and 30 months in prison, respectively, for producing, distributing, and administering performance-enhancing drugs as part of the doping case, according to an announcement by the US Attorney's Office from Wednesday, Nov. 16.
A third man, 35-year-old trainer Rene Allard of Canada, was also sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the scheme, Department of Justice officials said.
The sentencing follows a widespread investigation into doping schemes by racehorse trainers and veterinarians, which revealed that Grasso would prescribe performance-enhancing drugs to racehorses in exchange for payment, and also created and distributed custom-made drugs that were exclusively designed to improve racehorse performance, according to the Department of Justice.
The investigation also revealed that Banca and Allard would purchase these drugs and administer them to their racehorses, with Banca earning $16 million and Allard winning $25 million in purse winnings as a result, officials said.
"Illegally doping racehorses is animal abuse in the service of greed. Such corruption threatens the health of racehorses and undermines the integrity of the sport," US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said.
In addition to time in prison, Grasso was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, while Banca and Allard were sentenced to one year of supervised release. Additionally, Grasso was ordered to pay more than $47 million in restitution, the amount that he helped trainers collect in purse winnings through the scheme, according to the Department of Justice.
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