Appeals Court Affirms Ruling Against Former Trainer
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A United States Appeals court has affirmed the conviction and sentence of a district court that found former trainer Murray Rojas guilty of misbranding drugs and illegally administering race day medication to horses in 2013.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia upheld the jury's conviction of Rojas, who had been based at Penn National Race Course, and her sentence of 27 months in federal prison. In 2017 she was found guilty in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on 14 counts of causing a prescription animal drug to be misbranded and conspiracy to commit misbranding. In May 2019, she was sentenced.
She appealed that decision, arguing that the district court erred in denying her motions for acquittal and in instructing the jury, contending it failed to distinguish between two terms relevant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, abused its discretion in making two evidentiary rulings, and erred in sentencing her for felony rather than misdemeanor misbranding.
In its opinion filed Jan. 11, the appeals court did not agree with any of those arguments.
Perhaps most significantly, the appeals court determined that the district court acted properly in precluding Rojas' expert witness from testifying about whether the drugs administered were therapeutic versus performance-enhancing. Rojas and her attorneys had argued that the government's felony misbranding charge hinged on proving that she participated in fraud designed to win horse races and prize money and evidence that the drugs were not performance enhancing was relevant. The appeals court did not see it that way.
"We disagree," the court said in its opinion that found the district court did not abuse its discretion. "Pennsylvania's horse racing regulations prohibit administering drugs to horses within 24 hours of post time and, except for a narrow exception not at issue, the regulations do not distinguish between therapeutic and performance-enhancing drugs."