On Thursday (June 2) documents were filed with the United States District Court of Southern New York indicating that Rene Allard entered a plea of guilty to one count of Drug Adulteration and Misbranding in violation of Title 21 the United States Criminal Code, Sections 331 and 333.
According to court documents, from at least in or about 2015 through at least in or about January 2020, Allard adulterated and misbranded drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead, and caused the adulteration and misbranding of drugs in interstate commerce in N.Y. and elsewhere. Documents also state that "Allard misled and deceived state and federal regulators with respect to the distribution, purchase, and receipt of various misbranded and adulterated performance enhancing drugs, and the use of such misbranded and adultered drugs to improve the performance of racehorses under Allard's and others' custody and care."
As a result of commiting this felony offense and reaching a plea agreement with the U.S. Government, Allard shall forfeit a sum of $125,000 with at least $75,000 due on his sentencing date of of Sept. 13, 2022.
Allard's guilty plea comes less than one month after veterinarian Louis Grasso and trainer Richard Banca pled guilty to their respective roles in the distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead, in connection with the charges filed in United States v. Grasso et al., 20 Cr. 163 (OKC). Both Grasso and Banca pled guilty before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, and will be sentenced by Judge Castel on September 6, 2022.
“Grasso and Banca represent the corruption and greed of those in the racehorse industry looking to win at any cost," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement. "In peddling illegal drugs and selling prescriptions to corrupt trainers, Louis Grasso abdicated his responsibilities as a medical professional to ensure the safety and health of the racehorses he 'treated.' By injecting horses with unnecessary and, at times, unknown drugs, Grasso risked the lives and welfare of the animals under his care, all in service of helping corrupt racehorse trainers like Banca line their pockets through fraud. These latest convictions demonstrate the commitment of this Office and of our partners at the FBI to hold accountable individuals seeking to profit from animal abuse and deceit.”
According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Indictment, the Superseding Information charging Grasso and Banca prior charging instruments and other filings in this case [1], and statements during court proceedings:
The charges in the Grasso case arise from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors, and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks throughout the United States, all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses. Grasso, a veterinarian, not only accepted payment in exchange for prescriptions for powerful and medically unnecessary performance-enhancing drugs, he also created, distributed, and administered custom-made performance-enhancing drugs that were all misbranded and adulterated substances designed solely to improve racehorse performance. Through this fraudulent scheme, Grasso helped corrupt trainers collect over $47 million in ill-gotten purse winnings. As a racehorse trainer, Banca purchased and administered adulterated and misbranded drugs to his racehorses, and as a result of his crimes, his horses earned over $16 million in purse winnings. Banca stood to profit from the success of racehorses under his control by earning a share of his horses’ winnings, and by improving his horses’ racing records, thereby yielding higher trainer fees and increasing the number of racehorses under his control.
[1] As to Allard, Grasso and Banca’s co-defendants, the entirety of the texts of the Indictments and the descriptions of the Indictments set forth herein constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
(with files from the Dept. of Justice)