$150 a month from garnishments is all you get? Well, I guess that makes sense. I mean, how much $$$ can convicted felons be making if they have to start over.
I assume they are not allowed to work with horses, right? They wouldn’t just let them loose on the horse world again to do as they please. Not the Feds:confused:
Would someone be kind enough to summarize what happened? I really don’t have time to read through 30 pages, but am curious!
I second that. Can we please have a readers digest version?
[QUOTE=gottagrey;3399097]
Are these men now Victims of their own crimes? Woe is me, poor dears having been punished enough- what about the Victims of their crimes- those they were found guilty of swindling? What about them? They are still being punished.[/QUOTE]
No kidding. Until every one of their victims has their horse back or the tack back or the money then IMO they are or should still be “paying” for their crimes. Just because they got light sentences doesn’t mean they have paid their debt to their VICTIMS.
Federal prisons
[QUOTE=summerhorse;3404453]
No kidding. Until every one of their victims has their horse back or the tack back or the money then IMO they are or should still be “paying” for their crimes. Just because they got light sentences doesn’t mean they have paid their debt to their VICTIMS.[/QUOTE]
And federal prisons are sooooooooo much nicer than state prisons.
Does the federal prison in central Pennsylvania still have its own golf course with the signs posted telling us, the public to keep off the course? And of course, just a 4 foot fence around it.
PLEASE someone give us newbies a quick summary!!!
:lol: Ok…will do…just give me a minute!! :lol:
:lol: My…you guys are impatient!!! :lol:
I will do my darndest to condense but remember a lot a things happened that I will have to leave out since this started in Dec 1999.
~Two trainers take daughters pony on trial to MD
~Pony goes to Gulfport for the show series and is sold without my knowledge for almost $30,000
~Many months later I discover what happened
~Contact authorities
~Many other victims come forward
~Numerous local court proceedings
~Commonwealth of VA trys to prosecute
~FBI picks up the case in Feb 2000
~4 year 7 state federal investigation
~Trainers charged with 70+ federal charges each
~They plead guilty to most severe charge, receive prison sentences for 18 and 22 months
~FBI finds and seizes horse while in prison that they were hiding
~Only 4 victims receive restitution
~Case is highlighted as one of three cases out of 86,000 for National Victims Week 2006
~When released trainers put on 3 years federal probation…ends Jan 2009
~USEF bans trainers for a minimum of 5 year
I’m sure there is more…but I’ll have to think on it a bit!! 
I’ll ask TWF to chime in and help!!
Thanks! 5 years from when:confused: Are they allowed to show now?
Whoa!! Thanks for the summary. It is hard to believe the prison term was so short!!! Very scary. . .
Now that it’s truly “sunk in” why are they not banned for LIFE???
Here is a copy of the USEF ruling from Equestrian magazine.
I guess they would kind of be banned for life if people stopped giving them horses and money!
I imagine the USEF was following their own guidelines as to the maximum they were allowed to impose.
[QUOTE=RNB;3407320]
I imagine the USEF was following their own guidelines as to the maximum they were allowed to impose.[/QUOTE]
But wasn’t BW banned for life after the whole “Chicago equine mafia” thing? It is my understanding he can never set foot on showgrounds, even to watch his son ride.
Yes there’s a bit more…more things happened! There were other activities that could not be filed under the Federal case hence, were not included in the FF case. Not all victims were represented in the case. Only 4 were noted and only 4 receive restitution.
RNB failed to say
How many times she didn’t get a staight answer…
How many times she was told this was a civil matter…
How many times she attended Court all over VA.
How many hours she would spend making photocopies
How many times she mailed out “packets” of Court documents.
How the trunk of her car was her filing cabinet so she had the documents with her at all times.
Until recently, RNB did not have free long distance…the bills may have equaled the budget of a small municipality.
How she wrote letters to the Court on behalf of victims
How she never gave up.
How many times she wouldn’t listen to NO!
She found, engaged and educated other victims.
She educated her friends,local police, state legislators…anyone who would ask or listen.
She was not afraid to be frank or inject some of her Southern wit to get her point across.
Her motivation…a Mother’s love and a keen sense of right and wrong. This case was simply due to the fraud of "horsedealin " that directly deprived her daughter of her own pony.
Not much of this information has had much press coverage. I don’t think much of this was placed on the record (She didn’t have to testify).The outcome? It has changed many minds for a variety of reasons. The outcome has produced change for the common law abiding person.
For those who have been in touch with this case and RNB…we know one thing for certain…We have always been given the facts.
[quote=TWF;989398]
(The quote is from another thread)
Originally posted by Gayle:
BARNEY WARD BANNED PERMANENTLY, JUDGE RULES
On Nov. 1, a New York State Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of the American Horse Shows Association in its two-year effort to keep former show jumper Barney Ward off horse show grounds. Justice Richard F. Braun granted the AHSA a permanent injunction to keep Ward off show grounds for as long as he is suspended.
Ward, along with others convicted in the insurance-fraud indictments announced in July 1994, was suspended by the AHSA Hear-ing Committee for a minimum 15 years in July 1998. After serving 33 months in federal prison, he appeared on the grounds of shows in Vermont and Florida, violating his suspension. Justice Leland G. LeGrasse ruled twice in favor of the AHSA in granting a temporary injunction against Ward, pending further action.
Justice Braun’s decision permanently bars Ward from attending AHSA-recognized competitions as a participant or spectator. He noted that Ward had pleaded guilty in March 1996 to the insurance-fraud charges, admitting he arranged for Tommy Burns to electrocute George Lindemann’s hunter Charisma and three other horses before he threatened to kill Burns if he told anyone. Justice Braun called these “most reprehensible actions.”
Justice Braun wrote that the AHSA “has the right to keep unsavory people away from the horse shows that it oversees, even if only to prevent the appearance of impropriety.”
Justice Braun rejected Ward’s request that he be allowed to watch his son, McLain Ward, compete, saying Barney “should have considered the consequences of his actions before he put himself in the position in which he is now.”
He added that the AHSA “issued an appropriate penalty that, contrary to [Ward’s] contention, was not disproportionate to penalties issued against others” and that the AHSA is “certainly justified in avoiding actual or potential harm to its events, members and reputation, not to mention the horses, by having [Ward] barred from those events.”
QUOTE]
Note that Ward plead guilty to fraud…and then defied the suspension of the AHSA by attending a AHSA-recognized competition. Barney wanted to be “allowed” to watch his son. The USEF (then the AHSA) ruled against him and so did Justice Braun of the New York Supreme Court,saying that Ward
“should have considered the consequences of his actions before he put himself in the position in which he is now.”
Before anyone makes the implication…I am not equating any actions of Barney Ward and his associate felons with Josh or Keg(who are not suspended as yet). I just wanted to clarify what the Court sees as it’s role in the issue of governing those suspended by the USEF and what can be done if the “suspended” do not comply with the USEF rules.
Footnote: This was a costly court case and very worth the time and money spent… Is serves to define the right the association has the right to keep unsavory people away from shows it oversees to prevent the appearance of impropriety.
This is a post I made earlier in this thread. Of course, Josh and Keg were suspended after the orginal post.
TWF ~ Thank you for the kind words…I’m actually a little speechless and you know how almost impossible that is!!
As you know, there were sooooo many people who helped over the years it would be impossible to name them all. But if it were not for them this never would have gone as far as it did. A BIG thank you to each and every one. They are the ones who kept me going and continuously renewed my faith in the horse community. I firmly believe that the average horse owner is indeed good, honestly and stands up for what’s right. It’s the average horse owner who actually supports the horse industry but they have virtually no say in how it operates. I would like to see a change…it is long overdue and desperately needed.
Hey Debbie,
How are things going on the legislative front in VA??
I believe there is mounting opposition to the legislation as it is currently written.
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