Brothers charged with fixing race
USA Today
May 17, 2002
usatoday.com
By Steven Wine, The Associated Press
MIAMI — "Two brothers entered a thoroughbred that had won previously in a maiden race by giving the horse an alias, a scam that got them a $300,000 payout when it won, federal prosecutors charged Friday.
Emmett Winter of Williston, Fla., and his brother Kelly Winter of Albuquerque, N.M., entered a gelding named Forty Two, which had won previously, under the name Almost Impossible in a July 17, 1998, race at Calder Race Course for horses that had yet to win, prosecutors said.
Their horse beat nine others at odds of 12-1, netting them a $300,000 payout.
The brothers fooled Calder officials by submitting a counterfeit foal certificate for the ringer horse, with its name and identification number altered, said Guy Lewis, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
The Winters were charged with conspiring to fix races in Miami and in Pennsylvania. They were arrested near their homes Friday and face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
They tried to run the horse under the name Swing-A-Tune at Philadelphia Park two months later, but it was scratched when a racing official noticed a discrepancy in the documentation.
Tony Otero, a Calder security director who has been with the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau for 21 years, said the case was the first he has encountered involving an altered foal certificate.
A spokeswoman for Calder declined to comment beyond saying the track is cooperating with authorities as the investigation continues. A four-count indictment charges the brothers with conspiracy, wire-television fraud, mail fraud and interstate transportation of a false security.
Emmett Winter was released on bond Friday. His listed phone number was disconnected and he could not be reached for comment.
Kelly Winter does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment Friday." |
