Naitonal Roundup

New York
Over 2 dozen horse racing professionals charged in scam

NEW YORK (AP) — More than two dozen horse trainers, veterinarians and others have been charged in what authorities describe as a widespread international scheme to drug horses to race faster.

The charges were detailed in four indictments unveiled Monday in Manhattan federal court. Charges brought against 27 individuals include drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman scheduled a news conference to discuss the charges, which allegedly affected races in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and the United Arab Emirates.

Authorities said participants in the fraud misled government agencies, including federal and state regulators, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, various state horse racing regulators and the betting public.

Prosecutors noted in the indictments that professional horse racing is a $100 billion industry followed by millions of fans worldwide, leading racehorses to sell at auction for well over $1 million.

According to the indictments, marketers and distributors of drugs known as “blood builders” to stimulate a horse’s endurance have infiltrated the horse racing industry for at least the last decade.

Authorities say the drugs can cause horses to overexert themselves, leading to heart issues or death.

The indictments said other drugs used to deaden a horse’s sensitivity to pain to improve the horse’s performance could also lead to leg fractures.

Alabama
Seeking trial delay, sheriff makes false COVID-19 claim

ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — Lawyers for a longtime Alabama sheriff seeking a delay in his Monday theft trial wrongly claimed the officer was being tested for the illness caused by a new coronavirus.

With Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely set to go on trial on felony charges, his attorneys told a judge in a court document filed Friday he was hospitalized and being tested for COVID-19.

But testimony during a rare Saturday hearing showed the 69-year-old Blakely wasn’t being tested for the illness, and Circuit Judge Judge Pride Tompkins criticized the defense for making claims that could cause a public panic, The News Courier of Athens reported.

“I don’t know what your tactic is, but it’s condemned by the court,” Tompkins said. “And the court won’t tolerate it.”

Defense lawyer Robert Tuten said he was simply mistaken about the sheriff’s health problem and wasn’t “trying to pull a fast one.” Records indicated Blakely was hospitalized with a respiratory problem, but a doctor testified there was no indication it was COVID-19 and such testing wasn’t needed.

“There are apparently several different kinds of coronaviruses, but all we had to go on was what we knew at that moment,” Tuten said.

Dr. Maria Onoya testified during the hearing that Blakely was tested for several things, including influenza and walking pneumonia, but the results came back negative. The sheriff has been to the emergency room three times with similar symptoms and likely wouldn’t be ready for a trial on Monday, she said.

After the hearing, Tompkins ordered that all new filings in the case be sealed and unavailable to the public, so it wasn’t clear whether Blakely was out of the hospital and when the trial might begin.

Grand jurors indicted Blakely last year on multiple felony counts and one misdemeanor alleging he stole campaign donations, used his job to obtain interest-free loans and solicited money from employees. He has been sheriff of the north Alabama county for about 36 years.

Illinois
Judge rules religious order can expand operations

MARENGO, Ill. (AP) — A traditional Catholic religious order received the go-ahead to build a boarding school, nursing home, gift shop, brewery and winery in northern Illinois despite objections from some local officials and residents.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain Johnston approved a consent decree between McHenry County’s state’s attorney and Fraternite Notre Dame Inc., despite the county board’s refusal to even hold a hearing on the agreement, the Chicago Tribune  reported. In his ruling Monday, Johnston criticized the board for “shirking a fundamental duty.”

The decision ends several years of litigation  over the order’s planned expansion of its operation in Marengo, 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Chicago

The order sued in 2015, alleging that by blocking the expansion, McHenry County was violating the U.S. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally negotiated the agreement with the order to resolve the suit.

Fraternite Notre Dame, established in 1977 in France, is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, which the order alleged was the basis of some complaints against it. The order consists of nuns and priests and has a Mother House in Chicago.

Jack Franks, the county board’s chairman, said the board rejected the suggested development before he took office on the advice of the previous state’s attorney. Franks said he did not think the opposition stemmed from religious bigotry, but from concerns about whether the development was appropriate for a rural area.

However, Kenneally had told the board that the county would likely lose at trial after a public hearing where experts testified that the development wouldn’t hurt traffic or water quality.

“The state’s attorney (office) made the mess,” Franks said. “Let them clean up the mess.”

Johnston’s ruling means the order can now construct a barnlike winery and brewery and a three-story boarding school for up to 80 kindergarten through high school students, with separate dorms for boys and girls.

The nuns agreed to keep at least 60% of the McHenry County site undeveloped. The business would be limited to four 26-foot (8-meter) box trucks or smaller. Any construction must be finished within five years.

As part of the consent decree, the religious order will delay seeking permission for a nursing home for at least three years, Fraternite attorney Joan Ahn said.

“Generally, they’re happy with the results,” Ahn said of the nuns. “They’re looking forward to moving past the lawsuit and going back to their core religious mission.”