By T. D. Thornton
The former Standardbred trainer Rene Allard, 35, who was third in North America in both wins and purse earnings in the year before he was arrested and indicted in the March 2020 international doping conspiracy investigation, on Tuesday got sentenced to 27 months in a federal prison after having previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of misbranding and altering drugs.
Allard's sentence was handed down Nov. 15, shortly after the same judge in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) sent the racetrack veterinarian Louis Grasso to prison for 50 months for his role in the doping ring.
Prosecutors had been prepared to go to trial with evidence proving that Allard and Grasso conspired in tandem to drug harness horses.
“Allard, for years, trained and raced horses through use of a covert 'doping' scheme intended to corruptly gain a competitive advantage in races through the administration of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs),” the feds wrote in a sentencing submission. “Allard obtained from co-defendant Louis Grasso and others unapproved, untested, novel PEDs that he caused to be administered to his horses, despite the inherent risks of administering unnecessary medications to the animals under his control. Allard was motivated by greed, fraudulently earning tens of millions of dollars in purse winnings through his craven efforts to manipulate races.
“As a reflection of Allard's commitment to his doping regimen, Allard maintained in his barn a small pharmacy's worth of drugs, including the ingredients he used to mix his own 'drenches,' and a 'shockwave' machine, which only licensed veterinarians may own. Many of Allard's drugs were stored in a room that had been misleadingly marked as if it belonged to Grasso, in a calculated effort by Allard to divert scrutiny if Allard's barn was ever inspected, by making it appear that the drugs and veterinary equipment belonged to, and were used by, a licensed veterinarian, rather than by Allard,” the sentencing submission stated.
As part of his plea agreement back on June 2, Allard had agreed to pay a $628,553 money judgment, which represents the value of the forfeited drugs. Grasso, by contrast, was ordered to pay a forfeiture totaling $412,442.62 and restitution in the amount of $47,656,576.
Allard faced up to five years in prison. The government had argued for a sentence of 30 months, based on the term that another Standardbred trainer in the same conspiracy, Richard Banca, received back on Sept. 20. Allard's own attorney had lobbied for an 18-month term.
“For most of his adult life, Mr. Allard has made a living training horses to compete in harness races. Part of his job was to treat horses with vitamins, drugs, or other substances to ensure that they recovered from injuries and remained in good health,” Allard's lawyer wrote in the defendant's sentencing submission.
The defense filing continued: “During the period of time charged in the Superseding Information, in order to maintain a competitive edge, [Allard] did something that was wrong and that he never should have done: he obtained prescription drugs for horses in bulk, rather than on an individually prescribed basis, with the understanding that the way he was obtaining the drugs would mislead regulators.
“Although Mr. Allard always purchased drugs from licensed veterinarians, he knew that what he was doing was wrong, and he was motivated in part by a desire to improve the performance of the horses he was training and thus to win more races. By engaging in this conduct, he compromised the…potential well-being of the animals that he loves and around whom he has lived his entire life. He is deeply sorry for what he has done [and] bears total responsibility,” his lawyer wrote.
During its investigation of Allard prior to the nationwide sweep 2 1/2 years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation intercepted a phone conversation in which two other alleged conspirators in the harness industry discussed the deaths of horses trained by Allard after they had been given illegal drugs. One reference caught on wiretap callously described the trainer's operation as the “Allard death camp.”
Allard, a citizen of Canada, may face immigration issues that affect his sentence. His lawyer wrote that Allard could be precluded from serving his sentence at a minimum-security prison, and that he will likely be ineligible for “earned-time credits” that would reduce the practical length of time he must serve.
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