Posted 5/18/2010, 12:38 pm

Ernie Paragallo, once one of the leading owners of Thoroughbred racehorses in New York, was sentenced to two years in Greene County jail and assessed a $33,000 fine on Tuesday in connection with his conviction earlier this year on 33 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, according to a witness at the sentencing hearing.

The two-year jail sentence was the maximum allowed under New York law on the cruelty counts. The law also allows a $1,000 maximum fine for each animal-cruelty charge.

Joe Mahoney, a spokesman for the New York Racing and Wagering Board - which revoked Paragallo's license in 2009 after a raid on his Center Brook Farm in Climax - said the judge rejected an appeal by Paragallo's attorney, Michael Howard, to limit the sentence to fines. Mahoney, who attended the hearing, also said that the judge would later rule on the amount of restitution that Paragallo will have to pay to animal-control officials in Greene County who supervised efforts to care for the horses following the April 2009 raid.

Howard did not immediately return phone calls. Mahoney said that Howard did not indicate during the hearing whether Paragallo would appeal.

Also on Tuesday, the New York Racing and Wagering Board said it has asked Paragallo to appear at a hearing on June 24 to answer allegations that he hid the ownership of his horses in the years preceding the raid.

Paragallo was licensed as an authorized agent, while his horses raced under the name Paraneck Stable under licenses issued to his daughters. The board also said it was seeking to issue an order to bar Paragallo from all New York racetracks. Paragallo has been barred from the tracks since the May raid, but Mahoney said Paragallo is still eligible to re-apply for a racing license. The order sought by the board would deny Paragallo the ability to re-apply.

The board also said it was seeking to levy a $5,000 fine for each of the animal-cruelty charges brought by the Greene County district attorney. According to prosecutors, dozens of horses at Center Brook were suffering from malnutrition and skin parasites when the raid was conducted. All 177 horses on the farm were seized by animal-control authorities in the county following the raid, and most have been adopted by other horse owners.

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