NEWS
Trio sentenced in Breeders' Cup pick six scam, Harn draws lightest time
Posted: Thursday, March 20, 2003
Despite being the ringleader of a trio of former Drexel University fraternity brothers who attempted to defraud the racing industry out of millions of dollars in the Breeders' Cup pick six scandal, Chris Harn received the most lenient sentence among the three conspirators at a hearing on Thursday in White Plains, New York.Federal Judge Charles Brieant sentenced Harn, a former Autotote employee who pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, to one year and one day of prison time, noting that Harn could have received up to 7 1/4 years in prison if not for his helping the authorities.
"I realize I've hurt a great number of people," Harn said during sentencing, according to the Associated Press. "Forgiveness is earned, not granted, and I hope to pay my debt to society not with words by my future actions."
Glen DaSilva, who pleaded guilty to the same charges as Harn, received a two-year sentence. While he admitted no knowledge of the Breeders' Cup scheme, DaSilva said he and Harn, used a flaw in the bet-processing computer system on two earlier bets—a pick six wager at Belmont Park in early October and a pick four wager at Balmoral Park—which netted DaSilva $108,000 and which he split with Harn.
Brieant sentenced DaSilva first, saying that the Manhattan resident was "not the main thinker" in the scheme.
Brieant called the schemes "a rather outrageous crime because of the ingenuity and brilliance," and at his sentencing, DaSilva told the court that he was "very sorry for having gotten involved in all this." His prison time will begin on May 1, and he will undergo drug treatment,
For the Breeders' Cup pick six wager, Harn turned to Derrick Davis to help him pull off scheme, which would have netted over $3-million.
Davis used his Catskill OTB phone account to place the Breeders' Cup wager. He was sentenced to three years and one month for wire fraud conspiracy.
"I know I've done something extremely wrong," Davis told Brieant. "I'd just like to throw myself at your mercy." Brieant rejected his plea, saying that Davis had specifically opened a phone account for the purpose of defrauding the Breeders' Cup pick six wager.
Sentencing of the three men is expected to free up the Breeders' Cup pick six money currently held in a trust. There were no correct tickets in the sequence, so the 78 tickets with five of six correct will each collect at least $44,000, which is significantly more than the $4,606 they originally had received.
