Prison Time for Former Penn National Official
Description:
A former Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course official who admitted to accepting a $1,000 bribe from a trainer in exchange for race information was sentenced to four months in federal prison Thursday, Feb. 18.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Thursday that Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Conner had sentenced Craig Lytel, a former assistant to the track's racing secretary, to the prison term to begin March 23.
Lytel, 61, of Hershey, Pa., pleaded guilty in September 2015 to wire fraud for accepting a $1,000 wire transfer from a Kentucky bank in exchange for providing inside information on the makeup of horse races at Penn National.
As part of his plea bargain, the U.S. Attorney's office said Lytel admitted to numerous other incidents of accepting money and other gratuities in exchange for providing inside information to trainers on which races to enter their horses in order to have a better chance at winning. Lytel admitted to accepting cash, dinners, gift cards, and golf outings in exchange for the information.
In a sentencing recommendation, the U.S. Attorney said Lytel accepted bribes from 14 different trainers. The trainers' names have not been disclosed by the government, which is continuing the investigation.
"While Lytel's offense of conviction is a single count involving a single wire transfer, his conduct as a racing official involves a prolonged period of criminal conduct in rigging publicly exhibited contests, accepting bribes, and selling inside information that (defrauds) the betting public and other trainers who played (by) the rules and did not give bribes to cheat and get an unfair advantage," wrote assistant U.S. attorney William Behe, who handled prosecution, in his sentencing recommendation.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Resident Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission as part of an ongoing investigation of racing at Penn National. Since November 2013 the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania also has indicted four track veterinarians, three trainers, and a clocker.
Lytel worked in the Penn National racing office from May 2011 to September 2015.