A group of men have been charged with animal cruelty and illegal gambling for operating a clandestine horse-racing circuit in San Joaquin County, Calif., that involved doping horses with methamphetamine and cocaine, The Record reported Sunday.
With the help of confidential informants, undercover investigators from the state's Bureau of Gambling Control infiltrated races at private ranches in California towns Stockton, Lodi, Escalon and Ceres over three years. Investigators wore hidden cameras and audio recorders.
Nine men have been charged along with the lead defendants, Manuel Monroy and his son, Simon Monroy-Segovia, who both stand charged with more than 30 counts, including animal cruelty, horse doping, bookmaking and holding bets.
According to investigators, the clandestine horse races often drew big crowds that lined the quarter-mile straight tracks to watch so-called match races of two horses ridden by jockeys dressed in traditional racing silks.
In one event, the jockeys drove directly from the California Exposition & State Fair, where they also raced, investigators said.
Special Agent Vance Nabeta of the state's Bureau of Gambling Control went undercover to a March 16, 2008 race at a ranch outside Lodi. Attendees paid $10 each to enter, and investigators counted 75 cars in the parking area, Nabeta reported.
Minutes before the race, eight men stood in the middle of the track taking bets. Organizers also sold beer and food, while others recorded the races with video cameras, Nabeta reported. Other attendees bought $5 lottery tickets, investigators said.
Organizers of an Aug. 24, 2008 race feared that law enforcement would come after a man and his son, both drunk, drove from the event firing a .45-caliber gun into the air. Organizers told everybody around the stables not to say what happened if police arrived, court papers say.
Other men also face various charges in the case. They are: Cesar Monroy, Jose Monroy-Segovia, Martin Velazquez Navarro, Antonio Bedolla Barriga, Octavio Martinez Barriga and Jorge Luis Gonzalez.
Jose Villa Olguin, initially accused of promoting the illegal races, has pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors. A judge ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine and serve 1,000 hours of community service, San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Stephen Maier said.
The defendants are due back in court Sept. 13, when a judge is
expected to set a preliminary hearing date.
