3 horse trainers, 1 track employee arrested at Penn National Race Course, accused of doping horses, reporting inaccurate times
The United States Attorneyas Office has charged three thoroughbred horse trainers and an employee of Penn National Racetrack in Grantville with fraud in connection with horse races at the track.According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith: David Wells, 39, of Grantville; Sam Webb, 63, of Jonestown; Patricia Anne Rogers, 43, of Hummelstown; and Danny Robertson, 63, of Hershey, were charged individually in four separate indictments. Sam Webb, 63, leaves the courthouse. 11/22/2013 Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com
Saying the evidence just isn't there, a midstate horse trainer is asking a U.S. judge to dismiss criminal charges that he doped race horses at Penn National Race Course.
In a motion filed this week, Terrance McGowan, attorney for trainer Samuel Webb of Jonestown, contends that a federal indictment against his client should be tossed, because prosecutors don't have proof of the supposed wrongdoing.
Also, McGowan claims the U.S. Attorney's Office lacks jurisdiction to prosecute Webb, because the offenses with which his client is charged fall solely under the authority of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission, which oversees horse racing in the state.
Webb, two other trainers and a race course worker were charged in the doping case in November.
Webb, fellow trainers David Wells of Grantville and Patricia Rogers of Hummelstown and track employee Danny Robertson of Hershey all have pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged in U.S. Middle District Court.
Webb is the first defendant to take the offensive and ask the court to dismiss his indictment.
In the dismissal motion, McGowan claims prosecutors have not honored his repeated requests to provide a detailed chemical analysis of the substances Webb is accused of using to enhance the performance of his horses. He has not been given information regarding where investigators supposedly found those substances at the East Hanover Township track in Dauphin County, either, McGowan contends.
Also, McGowan argues that government investigators haven't provided specific evidence to back their claims that Webb committed an offense that involved manipulation of Penn National's pari-mutuel wagering system, as is alleged in the indictment.
U.S. Attorney William A. Behe doesn't concur with the dismissal request, McGowan notes in his plea to Senior Judge William W. Caldwell.