Former harness trainer and Thoroughbred owner Nick Surick could face as much as six years in federal prison for his role uncovered in the federal government's probe into doping of racehorses that resulted in more than two dozen indictments in March 2020. Prosecutors have asked for a reduced sentence of less than the 72 months recommended in a presentence investigation report despite the government and defense attorneys acknowledging Surick provided inaccurate information to the prosecution.
Surick is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. ET after entering a guilty plea to three charges – one count of conspiracy to violate drug adulterating and misbranding laws in aid of former trainer Jorge Navarro, one count of the same in his own string, and one count of obstruction of justice. The U.S. government submitted its pre-sentencing report to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil this week, while Surick's attorneys filed theirs in December.
According to both reports, Surick was one of the first in the group of more than two dozen defendants to pursue a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in October 2020. He agreed to provide information to investigators on fellow defendants and it seems the government had hoped they could call him as a witness at trial. His name was absent from a superseding indictment filed in the case in November 2020.
Prosecutors say Surick met with investigators six times in the months between June and November 2020 in what are called “proffer sessions,” submitting to voluntary questioning about the role of himself and others. Surick's attorneys say he “provided extensive information about numerous indicted and unindicted co-conspirators” while prosecutors point out that the information “did not lead to the introduction of charges against any additional defendants, or any additional charges against existing defendants, nor did his testimony yield any additional investigative avenues.”
Surick is accused of supplying Navarro with “red acid,” the common name for an injectable painkiller, as well as a shockwave machine. (Read more about shockwave here.) Prosecutors say he also doped the horses under his own care.
One of the incidents Surick was questioned about was the case of his Standardbred trainee, Northern Virgin. Intercepted communications between Surick and other co-defendants reveal that he panicked after New Jersey investigators showed up at his barn to take an out-of-competition sample from Northern Virgin, who had been given EPO that Surick got from Navarro. Surick successfully hid Northern Virgin from state investigators, first claiming the horse wasn't on track property while concealing him in another barn, and eventually moving the horse to a training center in Ohio.
Surick told the government that it was fellow co-defendant and veterinarian Dr. Rebecca Linke who gave Northern Virgin the EPO, but it was later discovered that this was incorrect. Linke apparently produced records proving she could not have been present at Surick's barn on the day northern Virgin received the EPO.
In last week's filing, prosecutors said they could not be sure whether Surick's inaccuracy on this point was a matter of mistaken memory (as his attorney claims) or willful lying.
“Because it is possible that the defendant did not knowingly lie to the Government regarding this event, and because of the unique circumstances of this case, the government has not concluded that the defendant deliberately falsified the details of this event,” read the prosecutors' report.
Surick's inaccuracy about Linke's involvement made him unusable as a witness according to prosecutors, since the inconsistency in his story of a pivotal doping event would doubtlessly be an opportunity for opposing counsel to discredit him. For his part, Surick's attorney said his client mostly remembered his panic and anxiety over the fear that he was about to incur a positive out-of-competition test, while the details of who was present for the drug administration escaped him.
The pre-sentence investigation report (PSR), filed by the U.S. Probation office, recommended 72 months in prison for Surick, but prosecutors asked Vyskocil to consider a lesser sentence.
“The government respectfully submits that a serious sentence to some term of imprisonment, albeit one below that recommended by Probation in the PSR, is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to serve the legitimate purposes of sentencing,” U.S. attorney Damian Williams wrote.
Prosecutors acknowledged they could have used a federal code allowing them to request a longer sentence since Surick's proffers turned out to have an accuracy issue, but have chosen not to. Federal codes could have allowed them to request as much as 30 years in jail for all three charges.
Surick's attorneys requested he be given 12 months' supervised release.
Neither pre-sentencing report explained a much-quoted statement made from Surick to co-defendant Thoroughbred trainer Michael Tannuzzo in intercepted conversation regarding Navarro:
“You know how many f—ing horses he (Navarro) f—ing killed and broke down that I made disappear,” Surick told Tannuzzo. “You know how much trouble he could get in … if they found out … the six horses we killed?”
Sentencing will take place at U.S. District Court's Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y.
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