Spitzer refiles jockey charges
Case against ex-NYRA aides to go on with new indictment alleging overweight riders

By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
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First published: Saturday, June 3, 2006

BALLSTON SPA -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has filed a new indictment against two former New York Racing Association employees for allegedly allowing overweight jockeys to ride at Saratoga and other race tracks.

Throwing out its initial case, Spitzer's office in April took the unusual step of submitting a new indictment with the same charges in Saratoga County Court against Braulio Baeza, NYRA's former assistant clerk of scales, and Mario Sclafani, the clerk of scales. The two are again accused of underreporting jockey weights at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct race tracks, which prosecutors say defrauded racing fans of vital betting information.

The attorney general reinstated the case and a new grand jury was empaneled recently after grand juror Deanna Buckman of Mechanicville broke her oath of silence to publicly mock the office's charges as baseless and political motivated.

"If there is a question or a concern regarding an indictment, the prosecution has the right to represent it to a different grand jury and supersede the first," Spitzer spokesman Paul Larrabee said.

Baeza, 65, a Hall of Fame jockey from Elmont, and Sclafani, 48, of Yorktown Heights, were arraigned last month in county court. They pleaded not guilty to tampering with a sports contest, falsification of business records and more.

Spitzer, who is running for governor this year, first brought the charges in September. The new indictment resets the legal clock, almost guaranteeing the case won't be resolved until after November.

Buckman, 62, a longtime employee at Schenectady International, rocked the original case in February by questioning Spitzer's tactics in a letter to the media and state officials. In it, she claimed the 291-count indictment was a fishing expedition, and called Baeza and Sclafani scapegoats. She was admonished by Judge Jerry J. Scarano.

The defense plans to address some of the issues Buckman raised, said Baeza's attorney, Paul DerOhannesian of Albany.

"We felt even before she spoke there were serious issues in the way the case was investigated and presented," DerOhannesian said.

Jockeys Jose Santos, Robby Albarado, Heberto Castillo Jr., Ariel Smith and Cornelio Velasquez, who were named co-conspirators but not charged, continue to ride and earn money, he noted.

Sclafani's attorney, Todd Greenberg of Queens, said he has filed a Freedom of Information request with the state Racing and Wagering Board to find out if it investigated the jockeys, as it promised it would last year. Board spokesman Dan Toomey did not respond to an inquiry.

The defense will start reviewing video taped evidence related to the case in Spitzer's Albany office as soon as next week, Greenberg said. Larrabee could not confirm that.

Larrabee did say the two sides will meet in conference June 29.

"We feel we have extraordinary and compelling evidence. This case was about racing officials who neglected to do their job to ensure the integrity of racing in New York."