Court Of Appeals Upholds Murray Rojas Felony Conviction On Drug Misbranding At Penn National

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday upheld the 2017 felony conviction of trainer Murray Rojas, who was found guilty in a jury trial on 14 counts of misbranding prescription drugs over a 13-year period from 2002-14 at Penn National racetrack in Grantville, Pa.

Rojas was subsequently sentenced to 27 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised released, a $5,000 fine and $1,400 special assessment.

She was found not guilty at the trial on charges of wire fraud.

Rojas was charged as part of an FBI investigation into corruption at Penn National that yielded guilty pleas from four veterinarians, a clocker, trainer and racing office employee. Rojas is the only person charged that went to trial.

Witnesses testified that Rojas instructed veterinarians to administer medication to her horses within 24 hours of a race in violation of Pennsylvania law or that she administered the drugs herself. Veterinarians admitted they misdated treatment sheets and billing records to cover up the violations.

Rojas was denied an opportunity during the trial to put forth an expert witness who would testify that the drugs Rojas was having administered were therapeutic and not performance enhancing, but Judge Rambo ruled that was irrelevant because state law bars all drugs within 24 hours with a limited exception.

After her conviction, Rojas filed a motion for acquittal with District Court Judge Sylvia Rambo, but that motion was denied. Her attorney, Robert E. Goldman, then filed an appeal on the following grounds:

  • That the District Court failed to instruct the jury properly on a distinction between “administering” drugs or “dispensing” them.
  • That the government's evidence to convict on misbranding charges was insufficient because it did not establish Rojas dispensed drugs rather than have them administered.
  • That the District Court erred in permitting a Stewards Ruling to be entered into evidence
  • That Rojas should have been permitted to provide evidence that the drugs were therapeutic rather than performance enhancing.
  • That the government did not present evidence that Rojas engaged in fraud or attempted to cover up her activities, which her attorneys said was required to convict on felony charges

The Court of Appeals judges who heard the case disagreed on all five counts. Because the full court did not participate, the ruling is considered non-precedential.

The case was heard by Circuit Judges Michael A. Chagares, Anthony J. Scirica and Jane R. Roth. The government was represented by William A. Behe from the United States Attorney's Office in Harrisburg, Pa.

Rojas has the right to file for a rehearing before the Court of Appeals. If that fails, she may petition to the United States Supreme Court.

The post Court Of Appeals Upholds Murray Rojas Felony Conviction On Drug Misbranding At Penn National appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Kentucky Pharmacy, Owner Plead Guilty In Federal Charges Over Illegal Drug Distribution

Tailor Made Compounding, LLC and its founder, Jeremy Delk, pleaded guilty this week to federal charges of unlawful drug distribution, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Tailor Made entered a guilty plea to one count of distributing unapproved new drugs in the United States between October 2018 and April 2020. Those drugs were selective androgen receptor modulators, more commonly known as SARMs, which are designed to mimic the effects of anabolic steroids. Tailor Made admitted to distributing a series of substances, including BPC 157, Cerebrolysin, CJC 1295, DSIP, Epitalon, GW 501516, Ipamorelin, LGD-4033, LL-37, Melanotan II, MK 677, PEG-MGF, Selank, and Semax. The pharmacy will forfeit the value of its 2019 sales of those products, which totals $1,788,906.82.

SARMs are best known as performance-enhancing drugs in human sport, but have also made their way into the horse racing world, as evidenced by a case from Quarter Horse racing earlier this year.

Delk, 40, entered a guilty plea for unlawfully distributing prescription drugs as a wholesaler despite Tailor Made not being licensed to operate as a wholesaler. According to federal prosecutors, he oversaw Tailor Made's distribution of methylcobalimin, or B-12, to physicians in California and Maryland. Prosecutors also say he tried to hide records of those and other sales when Tailor Made was visited by federal and state pharmacy inspectors in 2018.

Sentencing in the case will take place Feb. 24, 2021. Delk could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Tailor Made Compounding is not affiliated in any way with Taylor Made Farm or Taylor Made Sales Agency, also located in Nicholasville, Ky.

In March of this year, the FBI confirmed judicially-authorized activity at 200 Moore Drive in Nicholasville, the address of Tailor Made Compounding. That activity took place on the same day as the arrests of several trainers, veterinarians, and others on charges of drug adulteration and misbranding. In a statement provided to the Paulick Report later that week, a representative of Tailor Made stated federal authorities questioned Tailor Made employees in connection with “a highly publicized equine investigation in New York involving MediVet Equine.”

MediVet was the producer of SGF-1000, one of the substances referenced by indicted trainer Jason Servis in telephone conversations recorded by the FBI.

Read more about the marketing of SGF-1000 in this report from March 2020.

Tailor Made maintained that it “has no business affiliation whatsoever with MediVet Equine” and “is a separate business altogether which does not compound veterinary medication.”

Until the week of the arrests, MediVet Equine's website said it was located at 200 Moore Drive, and that it was “continuing research and development in partnership with Tailor Made Compounding.”

According to the Kentucky Secretary of State, MediVet Equine Associates LLC (one of several entities using the MediVet name in Kentucky) was then registered to a Michael Kegley, with Kristian S. Rhein as a member. Michael Kegley Jr. and Rhein were among the 27 indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in connection with a doping ring.

Besides their address, MediVet and Tailor Made did share something else — an important associate in Jeremy Delk. On his LinkedIn page, Delk lists himself as CEO of Tailor Made Compounding from December 2014 to the present and founder of MediVet Biologics from January 2008 to present. The registered agent for MediVet Biologics changed from Delk to Thomas Masterson in May 2019, according to a filing with the Kentucky Secretary of State.

Delk appeared on MediVet Equine's archived website as co-founder of the company alongside Michael Kegley Sr. Michael Kegley Jr. was listed as director of sales for MediVet Equine. That page vanished during the week of the arrests in connection with the Navarro/Servis indictments (which included Kegley Jr.) and the FBI's appearance at Tailor Made. As of this week, MediVet Biologics is listed under the heading “investments and portfolio companies” on the Delk Enterprises website.

Delk's biography on his LinkedIn page reads in part: “In addition to his businesses, Mr. Delk's other passion is horses and animals. Mr. Delk's family has owned race horses for more than four decades. In 1978 his grandfather's horse, Special Honor, competed in the Kentucky Derby against Affirmed and Alydar. Mr. Delk learned of MediVet Pty in 2008 when a trainer had remarkable success using some of the companies product ranges on one of Mr. Delk's racehorses. So impressed with the product and after further research formed a partnership with the principles of MediVet Pty, Ltd. to offer the company's leading edge all natural therapeutic products in North America.

Today, Delk Enterprises has crossed over into a more focused approach in human health care including OTC consumer products, small molecule drug development, peptides, and orthobiologics.”

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