Month: November 2022

            WASHINGTON – A Texas man was found guilty in the District of Columbia today of felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

            Larry Brock, 55, of Grapevine, Texas, was found guilty of a total of six charges, including one felony. The verdict followed a bench trial before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates.

            According to the government’s evidence, Brock – a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force – was among rioters in a mob that illegally entered the Capitol grounds and Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Brock was wearing a tactical vest and had a helmet. He entered the Capitol at approximately 2:24 p.m. through the Senate Wing Doors. He moved through various areas of the building, including the Crypt and Rotunda. While in an area near the Rotunda Doors, he picked up a discarded pair of plastic flex-cuffs and kept them while in the building.

            He entered the balcony of the Senate at approximately 2:43 p.m. and then moved downstairs and entered the Senate Chamber about five minutes later. He walked around the Senate Chamber for about eight minutes, and during that time, he rifled through paperwork on Senators’ desks. He then exited the Capitol at approximately 3:01 p.m., 37 minutes after he entered it.

            In the weeks leading to Jan. 6, Brock posted messages on social media, including one on Dec. 27, 2020, in which he stated, “I prefer insurrection at this point,” and another on Jan. 5, in which he declared, “our second American Revolution begins in less than two days.”

            Brock was arrested on Jan. 10, 2021, in Texas.

            Brock was found guilty of the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding, and five misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol Building; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building.

            Brock is to be sentenced on Feb. 14, 2023. The felony obstruction charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. The five misdemeanor offenses carry a combined statutory maximum of 3 ½ years of incarceration and potential financial penalties. The Court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Valuable assistance was provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.

            The case was investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

            In the 22 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 275 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing. 

            Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that defendants LOUIS GRASSO, RICHARD BANCA, and RENE ALLARD were sentenced to 50 months in prison, 30 months in prison, and 27 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in distributing adulterated and misbranded drugs in service of a racehorse doping scheme.  Each defendant previously pled guilty to felony drug misbranding and adulteration charges.  U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel imposed the sentences in Manhattan federal court.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Illegally doping racehorses is animal abuse in the service of greed.  Such corruption threatens the health of racehorses and undermines the integrity of the sport.  Today, three defendants have been sentenced for their roles in perpetuating, and profiting from, the mistreatment of animals.  The sentences each defendant received appropriately reflects the seriousness of these offenses in the eyes of the law.”

According to the statements in the Superseding Indictment, charging instruments, other filings in this case, and statements during court proceedings:

The charges in the Grasso case arise from an investigation of widespread schemes by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, distributors of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), and others to manufacture, distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses competing at all levels of professional horseracing.  By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks throughout the United States, all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses.  GRASSO, a veterinarian, not only accepted payment in exchange for prescriptions for powerful and medically unnecessary PEDs, but he also created, distributed, and administered custom-made PEDs that were all misbranded and adulterated substances designed solely to improve racehorse performance.  Through this fraudulent scheme, GRASSO helped corrupt trainers collect over $47 million in ill-gotten purse winnings.  As standardbred racehorse trainers, BANCA and ALLARD purchased and administered adulterated and misbranded drugs to racehorses under their control, and as a result of their crimes, their horses earned approximately $16 million and $25 million in purse winnings, respectively.  BANCA and ALLARD stood to profit from the success of racehorses under their control by earning a share of their horses’ winnings and by improving their horses’ racing records, thereby yielding higher trainer fees and increasing the number of racehorses under their control.

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In addition to their prison terms, LOUIS GRASSO, 65, of Pine Bush, New York, was sentenced to two years’ supervised release.  RICHARD BANCA, 47, of Middletown, New York, and RENE ALLARD, 35, of Canada, were each sentenced to one year of supervised release. LOUIS GRASSO was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $47,656,576.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation New York Office’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau’s Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative.  Mr. Williams also thanked the Food and Drug Administration for their assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi and Anden Chow are in charge of the prosecution.