Richard Banca

Two assistants to a pair of already-convicted Standardbred trainers in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal avoided prison terms beyond their time already served on Wednesday when a judge in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) sentenced them each to two years of supervised release and joint responsibility for monetary penalties. Both had cooperated with authorities in obtaining the convictions of others in the network, according to court documents. Conor Flynn, who worked for the former trainer Richard Banca, pleaded guilty to one felony count of drug...

Louis Grasso, a veterinarian who worked in the harness racing industry and was one of more than two dozen individuals indicted in 2020 for their role in a horse doping ring, has been sentenced to 50 months in prison and two years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in a lower Manhattan courtroom. Grasso was also ordered to pay a forfeiture totaling $412,442.62 and restitution in the amount of $47,656,576. He must surrender to authorities on January 24, 2023, at...

Former harness trainer Richard Banca, who in April pleaded guilty to one felony count in the federal racehorse doping conspiracy sting that has now netted two dozen convictions or guilty pleas, got sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison Sept. 20. Banca also must forfeit $120,975 and was separately fined $10,000. "Banca was a prominent racehorse trainer whose success was founded on fraud and deceit," prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentence filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York). "Banca's racing program-which he built and helmed-was predicated...

Harness trainer Richard Banca pled guilty to one felony count Apr. 19 in the ongoing federal racehorse doping conspiracy case. According to court documents filed electronically in United States District Court (Southern District of New York), "From at least in or about 2015 through at least in or about January 2020...Richard Banca, the defendant, with the intent to defraud and mislead, in interstate commerce, adulterated and misbranded drugs, and caused the adulteration and misbranding of drugs in interstate commerce... "Banca misled and deceived state and federal regulators with respect to...

Harness trainer Richard Banca has become the 28th person identified in the horse doping scandal that yielded indictments against some of the biggest names in Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. Banca's name was not among those listed when indictments were announced Monday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He was arrested Monday and released after posting a $200,000 personal recognizance bond. That another name has surfaced fuels speculation that the investigation launched by the FBI and the Department of Justice will yield more names, perhaps...