Paragallo receives two-year sentence

[Kasept]

Paragallo receives two-year sentence
By Matt Hegarty

Ernie Paragallo, once one of the leading owners of Thoroughbred racehorses in New York, was sentenced to two years in Greene County jail and assessed a $33,000 fine on Tuesday in connection with his conviction earlier this year on 33 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, according to a witness at the sentencing hearing. The two-year jail sentence was the maximum allowed under New York law on the cruelty counts. The law also allows a $1,000 maximum fine for each animal-cruelty charge.

Joe Mahoney, a spokesman for the New York Racing and Wagering Board - which revoked Paragallo's license in 2009 after a raid on his Center Brook Farm in Climax - said the judge rejected an appeal by Paragallo's attorney, Michael Howard, to limit the sentence to fines. Mahoney, who attended the hearing, also said that the judge would later rule on the amount of restitution that Paragallo will have to pay to animal-control officials in Greene County who supervised efforts to care for the horses following the May 2009 raid.

Howard did not immediately return phone calls. Mahoney said that Howard did not indicate during the hearing whether Paragallo would appeal.