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More Than Three Years After Original Indictments, A New Name Surfaces

In the case involving high-profile thoroughbred trainers Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis and more than two dozen others, Standardbred horseman Brandon Simpson has pled guilty to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy for his role in a scheme to provide horses with performance-enhancing drugs.

What makes the Simpson case unusual is that his guilty plea came some three years after the original charges against Navarro, Servis et. al. were unsealed and there was no mention of Simpson's name in the indictments released at that time. Court records released this week show that Simpson came to the government's attention as early as mid-November, 2020 when the government and Simpson's attorneys agreed on a bail package. What happened over the next several months and why was Simpson's name omitted from the original indictment remain unanswered questions. The Simpson development also raises the question as to whether or not more new names will surface in the near future when it comes to those being indicted as part of the drugging scandal.

Simpson both trained and drove, winning 1,643 races as a driver and 375 as a trainer. He last drove in 2017 and it appears that around that time he accepted a job as an assistant to trainer Rene Allard. Allard is among the bigger names caught up in the scandal and is currently serving a 27-month prison sentence after he previously plead guilty to one felony count of misbranding and altering drugs.

In a particularly troubling chapter in the Allard scandal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation intercepted a phone conversation in which two other alleged conspirators discussed the deaths of horses trained by Allard after they had been given illegal drugs. One reference caught on wiretap described the trainer's operation as the “Allard death camp.”

Court documents released this week detailed Simpson's activities, which included purchasing drugs at a pharmacy in South Carolina and then shipping them to a training center located in the Southern District of New York. Simpson also, the government claims, “administered prescription drugs to racehorses under Simpson's and others' control without a valid veterinary prescription, for the purposes of enhancing the horses' race performance.”

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‘A Small Pharmacy’s Worth of Drugs’: Harness Trainer Allard Gets 27 Months

The former Standardbred trainer Rene Allard, 35, who was third in North America in both wins and purse earnings in the year before he was arrested and indicted in the March 2020 international doping conspiracy investigation, on Tuesday got sentenced to 27 months in a federal prison after having previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of misbranding and altering drugs.

Allard's sentence was handed down Nov. 15, shortly after the same judge in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) sent the racetrack veterinarian Louis Grasso to prison for 50 months for his role in the doping ring.

Prosecutors had been prepared to go to trial with evidence proving that Allard and Grasso conspired in tandem to drug harness horses.

“Allard, for years, trained and raced horses through use of a covert 'doping' scheme intended to corruptly gain a competitive advantage in races through the administration of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs),” the feds wrote in a sentencing submission. “Allard obtained from co-defendant Louis Grasso and others unapproved, untested, novel PEDs that he caused to be administered to his horses, despite the inherent risks of administering unnecessary medications to the animals under his control. Allard was motivated by greed, fraudulently earning tens of millions of dollars in purse winnings through his craven efforts to manipulate races.

“As a reflection of Allard's commitment to his doping regimen, Allard maintained in his barn a small pharmacy's worth of drugs, including the ingredients he used to mix his own 'drenches,' and a 'shockwave' machine, which only licensed veterinarians may own. Many of Allard's drugs were stored in a room that had been misleadingly marked as if it belonged to Grasso, in a calculated effort by Allard to divert scrutiny if Allard's barn was ever inspected, by making it appear that the drugs and veterinary equipment belonged to, and were used by, a licensed veterinarian, rather than by Allard,” the sentencing submission stated.

As part of his plea agreement back on June 2, Allard had agreed to pay a $628,553 money judgment, which represents the value of the forfeited drugs. Grasso, by contrast, was ordered to pay a forfeiture totaling $412,442.62 and restitution in the amount of $47,656,576.

Allard faced up to five years in prison. The government had argued for a sentence of 30 months, based on the term that another Standardbred trainer in the same conspiracy, Richard Banca, received back on Sept. 20. Allard's own attorney had lobbied for an 18-month term.

“For most of his adult life, Mr. Allard has made a living training horses to compete in harness races. Part of his job was to treat horses with vitamins, drugs, or other substances to ensure that they recovered from injuries and remained in good health,” Allard's lawyer wrote in the defendant's sentencing submission.

The defense filing continued: “During the period of time charged in the Superseding Information, in order to maintain a competitive edge, [Allard] did something that was wrong and that he never should have done: he obtained prescription drugs for horses in bulk, rather than on an individually prescribed basis, with the understanding that the way he was obtaining the drugs would mislead regulators.

“Although Mr. Allard always purchased drugs from licensed veterinarians, he knew that what he was doing was wrong, and he was motivated in part by a desire to improve the performance of the horses he was training and thus to win more races. By engaging in this conduct, he compromised the…potential well-being of the animals that he loves and around whom he has lived his entire life. He is deeply sorry for what he has done [and] bears total responsibility,” his lawyer wrote.

During its investigation of Allard prior to the nationwide sweep 2 1/2 years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation intercepted a phone conversation in which two other alleged conspirators in the harness industry discussed the deaths of horses trained by Allard after they had been given illegal drugs. One reference caught on wiretap callously described the trainer's operation as the “Allard death camp.”

Allard, a citizen of Canada, may face immigration issues that affect his sentence. His lawyer wrote that Allard could be precluded from serving his sentence at a minimum-security prison, and that he will likely be ineligible for “earned-time credits” that would reduce the practical length of time he must serve.

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Harness Trainer Allard Avoids Trial by Pleading Guilty

Harness trainer Rene Allard, who was third in North America in both wins and purse earnings in the year before he was arrested and indicted in the March 2020 international doping conspiracy investigation, on Thursday changed his plea to “guilty” on one felony count of misbranding and altering drugs.

Allard faces up to five years in prison when he gets sentenced Sept. 13.

As part of a June 2 plea agreement in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, Allard also agreed to pay a $628,553 money judgment, which represents the value of the forfeited drugs.

During its investigation of Allard prior to the nationwide sweep two years ago, the FBI intercepted a phone conversation in which two other alleged conspirators in the harness racing industry discussed the deaths of horses trained by Allard after they had been given illegal drugs. One reference caught on wiretap callously described the trainer's operation as the “Allard death camp.”

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation deposition, a raid of Allard's barn later produced multiple empty syringes, the drug Glycopyrrolate, epinephrine and vials labeled “Thymosine Beta” and “for researching purposes only.”

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Judge Upholds Meadowlands Ban of Owners Associated with Indicted Trainer

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by eight harness owners who were banned at the tracks owned by Jeff Gural due to their ties with indicted trainer Rene Allard. Gural owns the Meadowlands in New Jersey and Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs in New York.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs may file a subsequent suit on the same grounds.
Despite the allegations against Allard, he had been cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice to train horses at a South Florida training center, as long as the horses under his care were not preparing to race. On Mar. 6, Gural announced that any owners who had horses with Allard would be banned at his tracks and their horses would be ineligible to race there. He also announced a ban against anyone who continued to have horses in partnership with the eight owners.

“To learn that people actually give this guy horses to train after what was discovered by the Federal investigation boggles the mind,” Gural said at the time. The owners, Kap Singh, Lawrence Dumain, Ira Wallach, Brian Wallach, Yves Sarrazin, Erin Hill, Bruce Soulsby and Allen Weisenberg filed suit, alleging violations of federal antitrust laws and state competition laws. The group alleged that Gural was attempting to “sanitize their illegal actions by attempting to smear Plaintiffs with the misdeeds of Rene Allard.”

United States District Judge Lawrence Khan disagreed, upholding the ban. “Judge Kahn clearly saw that this antitrust theory has no legs and did the right thing by dismissing the whole case,” Gural said in a statement. “This lawsuit and its outcome have only reinforced my resolve to purge PEDs from our industry even if it means defending baseless lawsuits like this or initiating my own legal actions against those who pose obstacles to our efforts, should I have to. Our industry requires, in my view, owners to be beyond reproach and held accountable for the training decisions they make.”

More so than any other track owner or manager in either Harness or Thoroughbred racing, Gural has been vigilant in his efforts to keep alleged dopers out of his tracks. Several of the Harness horsemen who were indicted in March, 2020 for their alleged involvement in a widespread scheme to dope racehorses had already been banned at the Gural tracks. Allard had been banned at the Meadowlands since 2013.

He has 4,570 career wins and his horses have earned over $53 million.

Allard, 36, was charged with misbranding and drug alteration, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. He continues to fight the charges.

During its investigation of Allard, the FBI intercepted a disturbing phone conversation between Ross Cohen and Louis Grasso, two others under indictment, discussing the deaths of horses trained by Allard who died after being given illegal drugs. Cohen referred to Allard's operation as the “Allard death camp.”

According to a deposition given by FBI agent Bruce Turpin, a raid of Allard's barn produced multiple empty syringes, the drug Glycopyrrolate, epinephrine and vials labeled “Thymosine Beta” and “for researching purposes only.”

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