Surick sentenced to 62 months in prison

Harness racing trainer Nick Surick was sentenced today (Jan. 19) in the U.S. District Court of New York Court to 62 months in federal prison for his part in the Federal Governments horse doping scandal. In addition, Surick was ordered to pay restitution in the total amount of $42,752,532 to the victims of the offenses of conviction.

“I consider your conduct to be very serious,” U. S. Dictrict Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil told Surick at the sentencing. “By giving horses performance-enhancing drugs, you endangered the horses, and the other horses they raced against, as well as the jockeys and drivers. You’re supposed to be caring for horses that you trained, yet you risked their lives and impugned the integrity of the sport in which you made your livelihood.”

Surick is the last of the harness racing people that were indicted three years ago to be sentenced after pleading guilty. A total of 29 horse racing people were indicted in March of 2020 with the majority of them pleading guilty.

Surick pleaded guilty to engaging in illegal drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracy with the intent to defraud and mislead from 2016 until March 2020, including using adulterate performance-enhancing drugs in racehorses.

A second conspiracy count states that Surick directed veterinarians to administer misbranded drugs and specifically refers to the blood-doping of a horse named Northern Virgin by a trainer in Ohio prior to the horse’s race in New York.

Surick also had agreed to cooperate fully with the Office of the United States Attorney, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and any other law enforcement agency. That agreement had come into question referring to some of the statements made by Surick.

The names of those also implicated by Surick were redacted in both court filings and may never surface. So far, the U.S. Attorney’s office has given no indication that it will seek to bring charges against the others.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink