Another pleads guilty in the doping scandal

[titans1127]

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.”

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/more-than-three-years-after-original-indictments-a-new-name-surfaces/

[Senator Blutarsky]

Race staging, tampering, fixing, doping has been going on since time immemorial, basically forever.  We all knew about PED's, all these track regulatory, who tested, got positives and administered everything from reprimands / small fines - to - suspensions - to huge fines and bans.  There have been a million leads for the deaf dumb and blind FBI, glad they finally got to it - NOT.

Well the 3 stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott & Costello might be long gone, but the FBI remains.    

This whole PED scandal was started by accident for something else  that led to the news stories, arrests, pleas / convictions, sentences....

"The Feds said that they found out about the PED scandal accidentally, that the data fell in their lap while conducting another, unrelated investigation."   

https://www.horseraceinsider.com/the-politics-of-federal-intervention-into-racing/

[Parked]

After the thousands of hrs of phone taps I would expect more than the 20 odd arrests.  So far it has been almost entirely trainers.  There are still two more segments I’d like to see indictments in.  Drivers and owners.   Hope this shows the Feds are not done yet…. 

[The Exporter]

I think what it shows is they were done with Simpson. His boss was in prison and he served their purpose.

[Senator Blutarsky]

After the thousands of hrs of phone taps I would expect more than the 20 odd arrests.  So far it has been almost entirely trainers.  There are still two more segments I’d like to see indictments in.  Drivers and owners.   Hope this shows the Feds are not done yet….

Agree! And those in regulatory that looked the other way, took envelopes, many, many more too.  The FBI, DOJ could really do us the biggest solid, a major press conference calling out the SCUMBAGS that continue to turn American Tradition, the SPORT OF KINGS, those honest in the industry that have a livelihood in it, and the gamblers, fans, into a cesspool for us ALL...that the investigation will be ongoing..., and be not only an enforcer, but a better deterrent!  Maximize!   

[ferdinand the bull]

How does Simon keep escaping the arm of the law.  He surely was involved,  he was the mule that ran the goods across the border to their Canadian counterparts

[Parked]

It is also time the usta (note small caps for a narrow minded organization) steps up and puts * beside all the track records horses set that were trained to by trainers who are now in jail…. 

[ferdinand the bull]

It is also time the usta (note small caps for a narrow minded organization) steps up and puts * beside all the track records horses set that were trained to by trainers who are now in jail….

Further to that publicize every owner that employed those indicted

[jupiter]

Hopefully it's the first of many more, second wave coming?

[ferdinand the bull]

Hopefully it's the first of many more, second wave coming?

Would be good depends how many backroom deals are made like Cassie to not b down as Trainer anymore

[seriously]

I don't know why a track doesn't just scrap the current participants.   You could replace 90% of all humans involved in this industry in weeks.

I personally know a person who did not grow up with horses, had never sat behind a horse, and inside of 6 months was dominating a well known track with a small stable on the trainer side.

In terms of drivers, we all know the capacity of the current pool  That would be even easier to replace with a handful of kids who are willing to take a chance. 

Burn it all down and start over.  The new blood would bring in so much new interest. 

Or just keep doing the same thing and die slowly, well, not so slowly. 

[Senator Blutarsky]

I don't know why a track doesn't just scrap the current participants.   You could replace 90% of all humans involved in this industry in weeks.

I personally know a person who did not grow up with horses, had never sat behind a horse, and inside of 6 months was dominating a well known track with a small stable on the trainer side.

In terms of drivers, we all know the capacity of the current pool  That would be even easier to replace with a handful of kids who are willing to take a chance. 

Burn it all down and start over.  The new blood would bring in so much new interest. 

Or just keep doing the same thing and die slowly, well, not so slowly.

What you said, I was thinking during Covid19, everything was shut down with the exception of Will Rogers came on line during, and maybe a bit more here and there, and it was the single greatest opportunity that came and went.

And the fucking assholes who cheated, had rainy day cash, sustained, and those that didn't, honest, some turned desperate and dark too, and the lights came back ON and everything went back to the same ol same ol.

The only way to defeat organized crime without intervention is to become a bigger, more powerful force and take it back.  What are they (the cheaters) going to say, who are they going to call, do drug dealers call the cops when their drugs are stolen?

I love calling deaf dumb and blind - corrupt racing officials and tell them keep up the shit, the time you call the cops when I show up the the fbi and media will be in tow, and it will be ww3 there on your property.  Then next week you see horses, drivers trying like their life depended on it, inquiries going up more than usual. 

A bigger movement - drag them out by their dicks! 

[Superfecta]

  The new blood would bring in so much new interest. 

You can get as much "NEW" blood as is possible and it won't make any difference at all.
People just don't like harness racing. Period. Sorry.

[jupiter]

Dirk's got to be proud, wonder what their phone calls were about.

[Senator Blutarsky]

You can get as much "NEW" blood as is possible and it won't make any difference at all.
People just don't like harness racing. Period. Sorry.

I agree on the broad level overall level, even if the numbers tic up, and also tracks have closed faster than new ones opened.

The sport probably won't ever get rebranded, jetsons like sulkys, accepting crypto everywhere, horse partnerships for low level investors never got traction, where are the betting syndicates offering fractional to those who want to invest their carryover pool wagers (?), you're also not converting the person sitting in a slot chair with their ass hanging over both sides lol to come aboard.

It's about currently not adding insult to injury for those of us still involved and getting the assholes the fuck out of there.  And who cares what people like - people are sheeple, some of us have sharp teeth though!