Laboccetta pleads guilty

Trainer Frank Laboccetta Jr. faces up to seven years in prison after admitting that he was driving under the influence of heroin while involved in a car accident in Saratoga County last summer, according to The Saratogian newspaper.

Laboccetta's Mercedes hit head-on with a Subaru sport utility vehicle on Route 9 in Wilton, N.Y., on Aug. 5. According to the paper, Laboccetta pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree vehicular assault, a felony. Troopers found heroin and drug paraphernalia in Laboccetta's car and on his person when he was taken to a local hospital. Laboccetta broke an arm, a leg, and a couple of ribs in the accident.

There were four people in the vehicle Laboccetta hit, and one woman is dealing with a brain injury, Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III told the Saratogian.

Laboccetta, 36, began training horses in 2001, after he ended an eight-year riding career in which he won 139 races from 1,751 mounts. As a trainer, he won 168 races from 762 starters.