Yes, the re-scheduled (third time) preliminary hearing is…today, February 21, 2012.
Am hoping that we can learn very quickly what the terms of the plea agreement are…
…& sincerely hope that real jail time is part of the plea agreement.
Laurie, I know you do right by all the horses that come through your racing stables (as I almost adopted one of your former runners from a horse rescue in Maryland–& as a consequence of this near adoption I inquired about you & your operation & learned of your commitment to rehoming).
Regarding your observation about Mark Bliss: As previously noted, there are many, many individuals who have been/are/remain…
…“complicit” in the LeFever matter &…
…who have not been subject to charges—criminal or civil, or prosecution.
In this often awful, always imperfect world…in which we live…
…we can only hope that all of those (us) with an interest & ongoing involvement in …
…rescue, rehoming, & rehabilitation, particularly those on the front lines such as CANTER…
…will keep a watchful eye on & be moved to take action–& succeed, when our watchful eye…
…spies nefarious behavior on the part of those who do not share our reverence of & commitment to…
…all horses, irrespective of their “breed” or commercial (human-defined) value.
Local newspaper account of today’s re-scheduled hearing for LeFever:
Source: http://dailylocal.com/articles/2012/02/20/news/doc4f42da710cd55016642057.txt?viewmode=fullstory
The preliminary hearing for a Honey Brook Township horse trainer accused of fraudulently selling racehorses for slaughter is scheduled for today.
A spokeswoman for Magisterial District Judge Michael J. Smith of Harrisburg said the hearing for Kelsey Lefever is set for 2:30 p.m.
In November, Lefever, 24, was charged with four counts of theft and one count of deceptive business practices after state police alleged she sold four thoroughbred racehorses to a New Holland company that sells horses to slaughterhouses in Canada.
Known as a skilled trainer in equestrian circles in the county and has shown horses at the Devon Horse Show, Lefever allegedly told two men from whom she had bought the horses that she would “care for, retain and re-home the horses into new careers” after they had finished their racing lives.
She allegedly told the men the horses would not be sold at auction or to a slaughterhouse.
In one case detailed in court records, Kevin Patterson of Chambersburg told state troopers that he had given Lefever his 5-year-old thoroughbred, Beau Jacques, in May 2011. The horse had sustained an injury and would no longer be able to race, and Patterson said he had told Lefever that he wanted to keep the horse alive and not sold to a meat company.
Patterson also offered to help pay for Beau Jacques’ upkeep at whatever farm Lefever found. She allegedly told Patterson the horse would make a good jumper or hunter, and she promised never to sell him for slaughter, Patterson and his fiancée later told police.
But two days after he turned Beau Jacques over to Lefever at the Penn National Racecourse in Dauphin County, Patterson received a call from an animal rescue operation in California reporting that Beau Jacques had been discovered on a horse trailer owned by a horse meat buyer.
Representatives of Animal’s Angels, a rescue group from Maryland, tracked Beau Jacques through a number tattooed on his inner lip, authorities said.
Police later spoke with another trainer who was supposed to have picked up Beau Jacques and taken him to a farm. The trainer said Lefever had told her, “Those crazy people don’t have to look for their horse anymore because he is in a box in a freezer.”
Deep Breath its not over…still a chance for more if people will step up…
Lefever’s attornies waive the preliminary hearing & LeFever will plead “Not Guilty” when she is arraigned on April 19th:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/02/kelsey_lefever_accused_of_lyin.html
Woman accused of lying about sending horses to slaughter waives preliminary hearing
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 3:30 PM Updated: Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 4:01 PM
By MONICA VON DOBENECK, The Patriot-News
Kelsey Lefever, who was charged with theft for lying about rescuing horses and instead sending them to slaughter, waived her preliminary hearing Tuesday before district judge Lowell Witmer in East Hanover Twp.
Her attorney, Michael Sheldon, said her attorneys have been in talks with the district attorney and “we’ve agreed to an outcome that behooves everybody,” but he said he could not yet reveal what that was.
Lefever is scheduled for a formal arraignment April 19 and plans to plead not guilty at that time, Sheldon said.
According to the charges filed against her, Lefever, 24, of Honey Brook, Chester County, agreed to find new homes for four former thoroughbred race horses which she picked up at the Penn National Race Course. Instead, she allegedly sold them to a buyer at the New Holland Horse Auction who took them to Canada to be slaughtered for human consumption in Europe.
According to court records, Lefever might have done the same to 120 horses.
She is charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors for theft. Charges of deceptive business practices have been dropped.
I live about 10 minutes from my farm which is even closer to Fair Hill Training Center and most of my farm neighbors race their own home breds and train for other people. They race at Penn National, Delaware Park, Philly, MD tracks most of the time, it’s within an hour or two. I don’t know why the name Lacey sounds familiar, probably imagination. No, actually I think that’s someone from another farm, can’t name them but I think the girl that worked there with the race horses was Lacey. That was about 2-3 years ago now and in Nottingham, PA. Tell me that this is another Lacey. I liked this girl and I think at the time she was about 19 and followed this jerk old guy, loser who is well known.
I’m going to ask my friend what that girl’s name was for sure. This would be close enough to Fair Hill. She would have been very qualified to retrain OTTBs for H/J, she’s a good and strong rider with skills in both racing and H/J.
Disgusting…
A report in a Philadelphia newspaper said Lefever will agree to enter a first-offender program as part of a negotiated deal with prosecutors, receive two years of probation, and be prevented from activities related to horses. She will not be allowed to acquire horses during her probation, according to the report.
Here’s what the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting (LeFever walks with no prison time & no life-time ban from horse ownership):
Posted: Wed, Feb. 22, 2012, 3:01 AM
No prison for Chester County woman who sold horses for slaughter
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
No jail for accused Chesco woman
HARRISBURG - A Chester County woman accused of selling thoroughbreds for slaughter after promising to put them up for adoption will avoid prison by agreeing to enter a first-offender program.
Kelsey Lefever, 24, of Honeybrook, abruptly waived her preliminary hearing on four counts of theft by deception Tuesday in a Dauphin County district court. Prosecutors withdrew a fifth charge, that she had engaged in deceptive business practices.
“We agreed under certain conditions that she enter the first-time offenders program,” said Francis Chardo, Dauphin County first assistant district attorney. “She will be restricted from activities relating to horses.”
Chardo said Lefever would be banned for life from obtaining a Pennsylvania thoroughbred racing license - and thus barred from any racetrack employment, such as horse training.
She also will be forbidden from acquiring any additional horses for the two-year duration of her probation, the terms of which are to be laid out at a future hearing. Lefever’s next court date is an arraignment on April 19.
The defendant left with her lawyer after her brief court appearance and climbed into a pickup truck without comment.
News of the charges against Lefever, a fixture on the regional horse-show circuit and a champion rider and trainer, sent shock waves through the equine-welfare community and renewed calls, including from members of Congress, to ban the slaughter of horses in the United States and end the export of horses for slaughter.
There is no prohibition against sale of horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, where they are butchered and sold for human consumption, primarily in France and Japan.
“This is a lawful activity,” Chardo said. “The problem is if the horses were obtained under misrepresentation.”
Lefever’s attorney, J. Michael Sheldon, said Tuesday that “justice has been served” in what he called “an unfortunate case.”
“I think it’s in the best interest of justice, the commonwealth, and my client,” Sheldon said. “Ms. Lefever is concerned about the safety of all horses, and this doesn’t diminish her love of horses.”
Prosecutors might disagree. In their written criminal complaint against her, investigators said one witness, a horse dealer, had quoted Lefever as saying: “I killed every one of those . . . horses, over 120 of them . . . Every one of them is dead. I don’t even know their names and there wasn’t a . . . thing [the sellers] could do about it because they gave me those horses.”
Lefever was charged last November after a state police investigation found she had sold four retired racehorses to an individual contracted by a slaughter plant in Quebec after having promised the horses’ previous owners she would retrain the horses and find them new homes, according to police documents.
One of the owners, Kevin Patterson, told an investigator that he gave his racehorse, a five-year-old thoroughbred named Beau Jaques, to Lefever with the understanding that the horse - which had suffered a career-ending injury - would be rehabilitated and placed for adoption. He also gave her $200 and 10 bags of feed to help care for the horse until it had a permanent home.
Lefever, who promoted herself at racetracks as a horse rescuer, assured Patterson that she never sent horses to slaughter, authorities said. They said Patterson later learned that Beau Jaques had been sold to a “kill buyer” outside the New Holland auction in Lancaster County.
When a woman who was supposed to adopt Beau Jaques told Lefever that Patterson was looking for the horse, Lefever told her, “Those crazy people don’t have to look for their horse anymore because he is in a box in a freezer,” according to court documents.
On Tuesday, Patterson was in court and ready to testify for the prosecution when word came that Lefever had waived her right to the hearing. He declined comment as he left the courtroom.
Animal welfare advocates said the case shed light on a dark side of the horse racing industry, but they had hoped for stiffer penalties.
“We are glad this person will be banned from engaging in livelihood that she could not carry out without engaging in fraud,” said Sarah Speed, Pennsylvania state director for the Humane Society of the United States. “But we would have liked to have seen a lifetime ban from horse ownership.”
It appears that none of this has stopped her from continuing on with business. Brandamore Farm has a handful of low-dollar horses listed on dreamhorse.com, including a young OTTB listed within the last week or so for $950.
Yes, Sandman, I see that LeFever continues to “trade” in the misery of selling “horseflesh.”
The ridiculous “lifetime ban” from PA thoroughbred racing is…laughable.
What is called for is a…lifetime ban from horse ownership & buying & selling horses–& any other non-human animal.
As reported by a prior poster on this board, LeFever was & remains engaged in “backyard” breeding & selling of a wide range of non-human animal species.
In fact, in her low-IQ stupor, LeFever bragged about butchering & eating a beloved pig who had the misfortune of being in LeFever’s care.
The Dauphin County DA, “Firehouse” Fran Chardo, who “handled” the LeFever matter is typical of what citizens often find…
…on the order side of local “Law & Order” (in America).
Cutting deals in a bureaucratic haze, “mitigating” case loads, “expediting” litigation, maximizing “cost-benefits,” & “administering” justice…
…are the “ideals” that drive/motivate such individuals.
Word has it that Firehouse Fran has ambitions to higher office…as a judge. NO doubt he would excel in such an office & would likley find fast friends…
…among those caring souls in PA who wax poetic…
… about live pigeon shooting (PA is one of only 3 states that still permits live pigeon shooting) & other human activities that exploit non-human animals for human entertainment (& for the prerogative of simply killing time).
Yes, I confess to being a confirmed cynic, skeptic, & someone who is increasingly persuaded that the Biosphere (read: Planet Earth) would be better off…
…without homo sapiens sapiens.
Affronts such as the LeFever matter, no matter how insignificant they may be counted in the often awful world in which we live…
…simply urge me ever more incrementally & resolutely…
…to lose all faith in humankind.
Retreat into my little world of caring for the beloved OTTB & 7 rescued barn cats in my care…
…well, that certainly is an option.
Yet I am plagued with seemingly…impotent rage…
…& thus far I find no peace in such a retreat.
Hopefully people in the area will keep an eye on her and report her if they see evidence she is still dealing with horses. Then maybe she would be jailed for probation violations. She sounds like a sociopath and they don’t change.
I would hope that some of those who got duped by her will get together and go after her in a civil court.
There most likely isn’t any money, but at least it would keep her busy having to walk up the steps to the courthouse. 
A few months ago I happened to see an ad posted by KL for an OTTB in Honeybrook. I’ve been out of the market for a while and did not realize she was a dealer. I visited, she rode, I rode, I took the horse. I did not have any opportunity to see anything else at her place mainly because I was focused on the horse and she immediateley took the horse and I out to the middle of a large open field away from everything else. She’s young and has that invinceable aire about her and I can’t help thinking that she’s just a small part of the larger crime in the TB industry. This does not excuse her from the unspeakable crimes she has committed. I am just acknowledging the elephant in the room- the reality we all know exists in the racing industry.
WE may want to direct our anger at the DA who has “agreed” to allow her to apply for ARD/intermediate punishment. I’m hoping a psych eval is aprt of the deal. Her acceptance into the program still needs to be approved by a Judge at the Common Pleas level in Dauphin County. She has no prior criminal record so her chances of getting approved are good unless the victims speak out. She has been charged with low grade felonies (F3)( F1 is the most serious). If she does her community service, pays her fines and restitution, shows up for hearings, behaves, reports to her P.O. , in a few years she can apply for expungement.
Her case brings to light the reality that our state and most of the Nation have little if any laws protecting animals/livestock/horses from such circumstances.(check out the opinion of the Berks County DA on the recent find of 27 bags of “ritually” slaughtered chickens in a Reading PA cemetery) While we (myself included) feel “unbridled” outrage towards KL’s of this world I believe our energy is better directed towards making sure this never happens again. We should direct our efforts towards enacting and enforcing laws to prevent this.
A few months ago I happened to see an ad posted by KL for an OTTB in Honeybrook. I’ve been out of the market for a while and did not realize she was a dealer. I visited the Brandamore Road farm, she rode, I rode, I took the horse. I did not have any opportunity to see anything else at her place mainly because I was focused on the horse and she immediateley took the horse and I out to the middle of a large open field away from everything else. Admittedly, I was not in the mood to be social and the weather was bad so I did not waste any time getting out of there.
She presents young and has that invinceable aire about her and I can’t help thinking that she’s just a small part of the larger crime in the TB industry. This does not excuse her from the unspeakable crimes she has committed. I am just acknowledging the elephant in the room- the reality we all know exists in the racing industry. Frankly, I am surprised there are no other individuals charged.
WE may want to direct our anger at the DA who has “agreed” to allow her to apply for ARD/intermediate punishment. (I’m hoping a psych eval is part of the deal.) Her acceptance into the program still needs to be approved by a Judge at the Common Pleas level in Dauphin County. She has no prior criminal record (yes, I checked her out before I went to her place) so her chances of getting approved are good unless the victims speak out. She has been charged with low grade felonies (F3)( F1 is the most serious). If she does her community service, pays her fines and restitution, shows up for hearings, behaves, reports to her P.O. , in a few years she can apply for expungement.
Her case brings to light the reality that our state and most of the Nation have little if any laws protecting animals/livestock/horses from such circumstances (check out the opinion of the Berks County DA on the recent find of 27 bags of “ritually” slaughtered chickens in a Reading PA cemetery) While we (myself included) feel “unbridled” outrage towards KL’s of this world I believe our energy is better directed towards making sure this never happens again.
We should start policing our own ranks and direct our efforts towards enacting and enforcing laws to prevent this and the other abuses in our community.
You need to remember that sending the horses to slaughter is not and was not a crime. The crime was fraud. It really doesn’t have anything to do with thoughts towards livestock, it would have been the same if she were defrauding people out of their beanie babies or breyer horses as well.
Yeah, but defrauding me and destroying my favorite Ruffian Breyer horse model is not the same as sending my horse to slaughter in breach of contract. That’s the problem with our legal system in Pennsylvania. There is no realistic value placed on the breach/loss by our laws so our legal system says “…so what.” There is no consideration of aggravating factors or circumstances. So KL gets the same penalty whether she steals my toys or my horse.
Problem is Kevin Patterson and by default Mark Bliss were the ONLY people to step up to the Plate…Not A Single Other Trainer who sold or gave her horses Came Forward…and they could have!!!
Everybody likes to point and whisper it takes real guts to follow thru…Read the Business as usual thread and ask where the whistle blower is now…
Yup Kelsey lawyer drove her right thru a big fat loop hole in the system and she smirked all the way…lets see if she has enough brains to keep her nose clean for 2 full years!!!
And if anyone will do business with her, sell her feed, deliver hay, shoe her horses, Buy them or sell her one???
If New Holland band her that would be a big step!!!
But then again Mark Bliss has a stack of issues and he still survives, and people buy horses from him.
It is exactly the same. And not just in PA, fraud is fraud everywhere in the US and horse slaughter is perfectly legal everywhere in the US except California where the law is ignored.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;6158103]
You need to remember that sending the horses to slaughter is not and was not a crime. The crime was fraud. It really doesn’t have anything to do with thoughts towards livestock, it would have been the same if she were defrauding people out of their beanie babies or breyer horses as well.[/QUOTE]
This.
She wasn’t charged with cruelty or neglect or anything, so preventing her from owning horses is a bit of a stretch, no matter how violently opposed to slaughter someone is. The PA ban is pointless since she was circumventing rules to get on the backside anyways.
[QUOTE=Susan P;6156185]
I live about 10 minutes from my farm which is even closer to Fair Hill Training Center and most of my farm neighbors race their own home breds and train for other people. They race at Penn National, Delaware Park, Philly, MD tracks most of the time, it’s within an hour or two. I don’t know why the name Lacey sounds familiar, probably imagination. No, actually I think that’s someone from another farm, can’t name them but I think the girl that worked there with the race horses was Lacey. That was about 2-3 years ago now and in Nottingham, PA. Tell me that this is another Lacey. I liked this girl and I think at the time she was about 19 and followed this jerk old guy, loser who is well known.
I’m going to ask my friend what that girl’s name was for sure. This would be close enough to Fair Hill. She would have been very qualified to retrain OTTBs for H/J, she’s a good and strong rider with skills in both racing and H/J.[/QUOTE]
Just took in a boarder who adopted an OTTB from a farm in Oxford from a girl by the name of Lacey. I went to pick up the horse and I can tell you that her records were up to date, and everything I saw about her was legite. I was copied on an email from her to the new owner & she seemed thoroughly committed to the best care of the horse.
