Harness Trainer Dane Gets 30 Months in Prison

Former harness trainer Richard Allen “Rick” Dane Jr., was sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison Sept. 9. He had previously entered a guilty plea to one felony count related to the 2020 international racehorse doping conspiracy sting that has already netted two dozen related convictions or guilty pleas.

Dane, 41, has additionally been ordered to pay a monetary judgement of $33,912. As part of a plea bargain, a second felony charge against Dane was dropped.

Dane is to report to prison Jan. 9, 2023-the same day that the last remaining high-profile defendant in the case, the barred trainer Jason Servis, is set to begin his trial.

But with respect to the plea bargaining that took place, federal prosecutors and Dane differed as to how useful to the government his cooperation actually was.

United States attorneys detailed in a court filing that after his March 2020 arrest, Dane made initial attempts to cooperate with them by providing information related to the cases of other defendants.

But by early 2022, the feds wrote, “The Government determined that the defendant was not completely forthcoming, and thus was unable to provide 'substantial assistance.'”

On that basis, prosecutors did not extend a cooperation agreement to Dane, who then pleaded guilty on Feb. 18.

According to the government's sentencing submission, Dane “joined in a conspiracy with Lisa Giannelli and, by extension, Seth Fishman and others at Equestology that he knew was wrong and illegal.

“The defendant not only purchased performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and prescription drugs from Giannelli that he was using to dope his horses, the defendant also served as a trusted resource for Giannelli by providing background on potential new clients who could be considered 'trustworthy.'

“One of the means by which Dane's co-conspirators evaded detection was by vetting buyers to ensure they would be discreet and would not report Equestology to relevant racing and drug regulatory authorities, or otherwise act recklessly and invite scrutiny of Equestology's drugs,” prosecutors wrote.

“Dane facilitated these efforts by providing Giannelli with background information on such individuals. The defendant consistently purchased adulterated and misbranded PEDs from Giannelli and others, all in efforts to corruptly dope his racehorses and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in purse winnings,” the feds wrote.

The government had recommended that “a sentence slightly below the Guidelines Sentence of 36 months' imprisonment is appropriate to serve the purposes of sentencing when balancing all the factors relevant to the defendant's guilt, including the relatively limited role he played in facilitating Equestology's operations as compared to Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli, both of whom had more extensive involvement in the promotion and sale of Equestology's drugs, and who partook in their offense conduct for a significantly longer period of time.”

Fishman was sentenced in July to an 11-year prison stint, and an appeal is in the works. The day prior to Dane's sentencing, on Sept. 8, the same federal judge sentenced Giannelli to 3 1/2 years behind bars.

Dane's own sentencing submission written by his legal team offered a different perspective, while asking for a more lenient sentence “that is below the guidelines due to the extraordinary mitigation present in Mr. Dane's life.”

Dane's lawyers wrote that, “Since he was 16 years old, Mr. Dane has worked with at various tracks as a farrier and horse trainer. He loves working with horses and is passionate about his career. Mr. Dane always put the horses before himself and worked hard to ensure that his horses were cared for.”