US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil sentenced harness harness trainer Chris Oakes, who conspired with thoroughbred trainer Jorge Navarro to supply performance-enhancing drugs to Thoroughbred racehorses, to three years in prison. in sentencing hearing on March 3. Oakes was also ordered to pay a free penalty out of $62,821.
Oakes’ sentence follows the February 24 sentencing of purebred trainer Marcos Zulueta by Vyskocil to a term of 33 months in prison, and charges of exploiting trainer Rick Dane Jr. on February 18. Vyskocil will preside over the sentencing of Dane on June 21.
US Attorney Damian Williams released a statement following the sentencing, in which he commented: “The three defendants, Christopher Oakes, Marcos Zulueta and Rick Dane Jr., each assumed duty of care and protection. the health and safety of the animals under them Control. Every man has blatantly violated that duty to earn money. Oakes’ sentencing today, like Zulueta’s, reflects the callousness of their crimes and the severity with which this office bears the kind of abuse each has committed.”
Oakes, 59, is among more than two dozen individuals charged in the horse doping case. Prior to that, when pleading guilty in court on October 20, Oakes admitted to purchasing illegal drugs from co-defendants Dr. Seth Fishman, Dr. Gregory Skelton and Skelton’s assistant Ross Cohen. . The Pennsylvania trainer admits to drugging his horses “in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage.”
In the government indictment of Oakes and other defendants, prosecutors noted that communication was intercepted between Navarro and Oakes in which they conspired to supply Navarro’s star sprinter XY Jet with PEDs. Navarro announced in January 2020 that XY Jet had died of a heart attack.
Navarro was sentenced to five years in prison in a sentencing hearing in December and will be released from prison this month.
In addition to the phone intercepts, law enforcement officers found adulterated and mislabeled PEDs in the Oakes barn in Pennsylvania, which the government intends to bring to trial if the case is brought forward. go to court.
According to prosecutors, by evading PED bans and deceiving regulators and officials, the participants charged in this horse doping case sought to improve race performance from horses. and receive prize money from races across the United States and other countries, including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates. The government believes that the use of PED poses a risk to the health of their racehorses.
Trainers, such as Oakes, Zueleta, Dane and Navarro, seek to profit from the success of the racehorses under their control, while participating veterinarians profit from the sale and management PED manager, the government said.
Prosecutors claimed that Oakes used a fake corporation to conceal his actual financial interests in various horses and defrauded others of more than a million dollars in winnings in his wallet by training training and racing using adulterated and mislabeled PEDs, including hematopoietic agents, vasodilators, “drenches,” “bleeder” drugs, and other drugs not approved by the Food and Drug Administration approve.
