Harness racing veterinarian Louis Grasso, sentenced in November to 50 months in prison for his role in distributing adulterated and misbranded drugs in service of a racehorse doping scheme, was arraigned in Pennsylvania Friday on allegations of cheating a casino out of $21,646. According to the Times-Leader, Grasso and his alleged co-conspirator were each jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $25,000 bail.
That report details that craps dealer Jason Richard Kutney pushed a button early, allowing Grasso to see the numbers before placing his bet. Grasso reportedly won $17,521 on Dec. 30, and won $4,125 on Jan. 5.
Grass was expected to report to federal prison on Jan. 24 to begin his 50-month prison sentence.
The charges in the Grasso case arose 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. 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 PEDs, but he also created, distributed, and administered custom-made PEDs 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.
Casino.org reported: “Police said in an affidavit that Kutney admitted to law officers that he was assisting Grasso through a difficult time. Grasso declined to speak with police and instead requested an attorney.”
Read more at the Times-Leader and Casino.org.
The post Vet Louis Grasso, Sentenced To Prison In Racehorse Doping Scheme, Charged With Cheating Casino Out Of $21,646 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
