Pine Bush vet charged in horse doping scandal

Posted 11/23/22

Louis Grasso, a veterinarian from Pine Bush, is one of 27 people named in a federal indictment accused of orchestrating the manufacturing, distributing and receiving of contaminated and misbranded …

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Pine Bush vet charged in horse doping scandal

Posted

Louis Grasso, a veterinarian from Pine Bush, is one of 27 people named in a federal indictment accused of orchestrating the manufacturing, distributing and receiving of contaminated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced last week that defendant Grasso, 65, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his role in distributing adulterated and misbranded drugs in service of a racehorse doping scheme. Co-defendants Richard Banca, 47, of Middletown and Rene Allard, 35, of Canada, were given 30 months in prison, and 27 months in prison, respectively.

Williams said the charges in the Grasso case arise from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, distributors of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) 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.

“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,” Williams said. “ Today, three defendants have been sentenced for their roles in perpetuating, and profiting from, the mistreatment of animals. The sentences each defendant received appropriately reflects the seriousness of these offenses in the eyes of the law.”

In addition to their prison terms, Grasso was sentenced to two years’ supervised release, while Bancca and Allard were each sentenced to one year of supervised release. Grasso was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $47,656,576.