This time it was the Cuban-born trainer Marcos Zulueta, one of 31 people charged.
He was sentenced on Thursday by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil in U.S. District Court in New York to 33 months in prison in the US, in exchange for a guilty plea to a fraud charge.
He pleaded guilty in October to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding with intent to commit fraud.
Zulueta was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release when he gets out of prison and to forfeit $47,525 – his alleged purse winnings with doped horses.
Vyskocil said America is the land of opportunity but Zulueta "abused that opportunity, frankly."
She said that intercepted phone calls with trainer Jorge Navarro showed Zulueta's "total disregard" for the welfare of horses and jockeys who risked injury if one of his doped horses broke down.
Vyskocil said one of Zulueta's roles in the doping scheme, according to the intercepted calls, was "educating Navarro on new and experimental ways to drug horses and telling Navarro how to avoid getting caught by drug administrators or racing authorities."
They said Zulueta continued to dope horses up until the time of his arrest in March 2020.
Zulueta was suspended from racing after being arrested as were other defendants.
He trained out of Parx Racing and his horses ran mostly in claiming and mid-level races. Records show he trained 455 winners from 1,884 starters, amassing $13.1 million over the course of his career.
As the proceeding was wrapping up, Vyskocil offered Zulueta words of encouragement.
"You went astray over the course of several years but you can still make something of your life," she said. "You have to find the right path forward."
Jason Servis trial delayed until 2023
A New York judge on Thursday postponed until early next year Jason Servis' trial in a horse doping conspiracy case that the federal government brought in 2020 against the prominent trainer and more than two dozen others.
U.S. District Court Judge Vyskocil had hoped to try Servis in the fall with several other defendants who have been charged in the sweeping case and, like Servis, claim they are innocent. The judge said the Servis trial will now take place in the first quarter or 2023.
